Protease activities of Candida spp. isolated from immunocompetent patients with otomycosis

Abstract

Summary: Otomycosis is a fungal infection of the ear dominantly caused by Candida and Aspergillus spp. The possible virulence factors of Candida spp. are enzymes, such as proteases, phospholipases, phosphatases and esterase. Protease production in Candida strains isolated from patients with otomycosis is, according to our knowledge, not investigated. The present study was aimed at determining in vitro protease activity in 28 strains of Candida spp. (C. parapsilosis, C. famata, C. guilliermondii, C. albicans and C. kefyr) isolated from patients with otomycosis. The majority of isolated strains 25/28 (89.28%) were protease positive. The protease Pz ranged from 0.691 to 0.851. The futher investigation is necessary to clarify contribution of protease production to Candida virulence associated with otomycosis.