Background

Although Candida is a commensal of the urogenital tract, intrauterine fungal infections are extremely uncommon in clinical practice.

Aims

In the present work we evaluated whether amniotic fluid (AF) possesses direct antifungal activity against clinical isolates of Candida albicans and other Candida species.

Methods

A total of 23 AF samples from pregnant women with gestational age of 38–41 weeks were obtained under aseptic conditions by the aspiration of the amniotic sac during cesarean section. Different Candida species were inoculated in amniotic fluid and Sabouraud broth, used as control, and were incubated at 37 °C for 48 h. Quantitative cultures of test samples and controls were performed at 0, 4, 8, 12, 24, and 48 h.

Results

AF collected from 23 pregnant women had consistent and significant inhibitory activity against all Candida isolates tested. Nonetheless, a complete inhibition of growth by all 23 AF samples tested was observed only against Candida glabrata.

Conclusions

It is likely that the antifungal activity of the AF against C. albicans, C. glabrata and Candida parapsilosis observed in vitro also exists in vivo, contributing to protect against intrauterine fungal infections.

中文翻译：

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羊水对不同念珠菌的抗真菌活性

背景

尽管念珠菌是泌尿生殖道的共生菌，但宫内真菌感染在临床实践中极为罕见。

宗旨

在目前的工作中，我们评估了羊水 (AF) 是否对白色 念珠菌和其他念珠菌属的临床分离株具有直接的抗真菌活性。

方法

在无菌条件下，通过剖宫产术中的羊膜囊抽吸，从胎龄为 38-41 周的孕妇中获得了总共 23 份 AF 样本。将不同种类的念珠菌接种在羊水和沙氏肉汤中作为对照，并在 37  °C下培养48 小时。在 0、4、8、12、24 和 48 小时进行测试样品和对照的定量培养。

结果

从 23 名孕妇收集的 AF 对所有测试的念珠菌分离株具有一致且显着的抑制活性。尽管如此，仅针对光滑念珠菌观察到所有 23 个测试的 AF 样品对生长的完全抑制。

结论

很可能，针对AF的抗真菌活性白色念珠菌，光滑念珠菌和近平滑念珠菌观察到在体外也存在体内，有助于防止宫内真菌感染。