Biofilm formation by Candida albicans and Candida glabrata isolated from urine specimens of diabetic Iraqi women

Biofilms are multicellular communities where microorganisms are grown and form an extracellular matrix that protects the pathogenic microorganisms from the immunity system and antimicrobial agents. This study is aimed to identify Candida spp. isolated from urine specimens by using traditional techniques, germ tube, growth on corn meal agar medium and chromogenic medium then determine the ability of isolates to producing biofilm by tube method (TM) and congo red agar method (CRA). In our study urine specimens were obtained from 174 diabetic females in the period of six months at the Al-Wafa Specialized Center for Diabetes and Endocrinology, Mosul city, Iraq. Out of the total 174 specimens, yeast species were isolated from 56 (32.2 %) specimens. Out of the 56 isolates, 50 isolates were positive for Candida spp., especially C. glabrata which appeared maximum in 30 isolates (60 %) and followed by C. albicans 18 isolates (36%) and C. krusei 2 isolates (4 %). In the TM method for biofilm detection, C. albicans showed 16 isolates (88.9%) positive for biofilm formation followed by 29 isolates (96.7%) of C. glabrata. Furthermore, in the CRA method, all isolates (100%) of C. albicans were negative followed by 27 isolates (90%) of C. glabrata, whereas only 3 isolates (10%) of C. glabrata were positive. We can conclude that TM is the best conventional method and is sensitive to detect biofilm-forming yeast when compared with the CRA method.