Comparison of Biochemical and Molecular Methods for the Identification of Candida Species Causing Vulvovaginal Candidiasis and Recurring Vulvovaginal Candidiasis

Vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) is a common clinical problem that affects most adult women at least once during their life time. Many also have frequently recurring yeast infections (RVVC) caused by Candida albicans and non albicans Candida species. We studied use of CHROMagar Candida and PCR-RFLP to compare their differential ability and time consuming. Vaginal discharge samples of all women with clinical signs were cultured on CHROM agar Candida medium. After an overnight incubation at 37°C, growth coloration of Candida isolates compared with those of standard patterns. PCR-RFLP using restriction enzyme Msp I were used for the identification of more Candida isolates in the level of species. Totally 192 vaginal discharge samples were obtained from the women with vulvovaginitis clinical signs. 90 patients had Candida vulvovaginitis, 11 case were RVVC. The Candida species which were identified included, C.albicans (78.8%), C.glabrata (7.7 %), C. parapsilosis (6.6%), C. tropicalis (4.4 %) and C. krusei (2.2 %). We concluded that, use of PCR-RFLP is recommended for the identification of Candida species causing VVC and RVVC in accompany with the culture based methods, regarding to its differential power and speed.