Candida lusitaniae Species

Clavispora lusitaniae Rodrigues de Miranda (1979)

Colonies on Sabouraud dextrose agar at 25°C are white to cream, glistening, and smooth but may be rugose. Colonies may be fringed with pseudohyphae. This isolate grows both at 42°C and on media containing cycloheximide.

On cornmeal following 72 hours incubation at 25°C, abundant branched pseudohyphae may be present. Some strains have rudimentary to no pseudohyphae.

Candida lusitaniae is known for amphotericin B resistance. The first report of fatal infection occurred in a neutropenic patient where the initial isolate was susceptible to amphotericin B but subsequent isolates had developed amphotericin B resistance [1712]. It is well-documented that this species is able to develop resistance, but some strains display resistance prior to amphotericin B therapy [1524]. Although amphotericin B resistance is a concern, reports exist where amphotericin B has been used to successfully treat fungemia in severely immunocompromised patients [259].

AMB	CAS	5FC	FLU	ITRA	VORI	KETO
0.06 µg/ml=2	<0.03 µg/ml=6	<0.125 µg/ml=41	<0.125 µg/ml=7	<0.015 µg/ml=13	<0.015 µg/ml=27	<0.03 µg/ml=8
0.125 µg/ml=35	0.06 µg/ml=33	0.25 µg/ml=1	0.25 µg/ml=24	0.03 µg/ml=23	0.03 µg/ml=16	0.06 µg/ml=6
0.25 µg/ml=72	0.125 µg/ml=50	4.0 µg/ml=1	0.5 µg/ml=57	0.06 µg/ml=24	0.06 µg/ml=5	0.125 µg/ml=4
0.5 µg/ml=14	0.25 µg/ml=18	64 µg/ml=1	1.0 µg/ml=42	0.125 µg/ml=12	0.125 µg/ml=5	0.25 µg/ml=1
1.0 µg/ml=5	0.5 µg/ml=3	>64 µg/ml=2	2.0 µg/ml=9	0.25 µg/ml=8	0.25 µg/ml=3
2.0 µg/ml=1	1.0 µg/ml=4		16 µg/ml=3	0.5 µg/ml=1	0.5 µg/ml=3
	2.0 µg/ml=1		32 µg/ml=4	4.0 µg/ml=1	2.0 µg/ml=1
			64 µg/ml=6		4.0 µg/ml=1
			>64 µg/ml=1		8.0 µg/ml=1

Drug/N	AMB/129	CAS/115	5FC/46	FLU/153	ITRA/82	VORI/62	KETO/19
MIC Range	0.06-2.0	<0.03-2.0	<0.125->64	<0.125->64	<0.015-4.0	<0.015-8	<0.03-0.25
MIC₅₀	0.25	0.125	<0.125	0.5	0.06	0.03	0.06
MIC₉₀	0.5	0.25	0.25	2.0	0.25	0.25	0.125

* Fungus Testing Laboratory unpublished data (NCCLS M27-A2)

PubMed

GenBank

References

259. Blinkhorn, R. J., D. Adelstein, and P. J. Spagnuolo. 1989. Emergence of a new opportunistic pathogen, Candida lusitaniae. J. Clin. Microbiol. 27:236-240.

1524. Merz, W. G. 1984. Candida lusitaniae: frequency of recovery, colonization, infection, and amphotericin B resistance. J. Clin. Microbiol. 20:1194-1195.

1712. Pappagianis, D., M. S. Collins, R. Hector, and J. Remington. 1979. Development of reistance to amphotericin B in Candida lusitaniae infecting a human. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 16:123-126.