Candiduria in Hospitalized Patients and Identification of Isolated Candida Species by Morphological and Molecular Methods in Ilam, Iran

Candiduria in hospitalized patients may represent contamination, colonization, or urinary tract in-fections. On the other hand, candidemia and upper urinary tract infection could be the complications of can-diduria. The aim of this study was to determine candiduria in hospitalized patients and identify isolated Candida species by conventional and molecular methods. This cross-sectional study was conducted on hospitalized patients in Imam Khomeini and Mostafa Khomeini hospitals in Ilam, western Iran from Jan to Dec 2016. Urine samples of hospitalized patients were col-lected during a period of 4 months for diagnosis of candiduria. Primary identification was done by conventional methods. PCR profile was carried out using phenol-chloroform method and confirmed using restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) technique by MspI restriction enzyme. Candiduria was diagnosed in 18 (9.2%) cases from a total of 195 patients. Isolated yeasts were identified as C. albicans (n: 13), C. glabrata (n: 5), and C. parapsilosis (n: 1) in the one case both C. albicans and C. glabrata were isolated from a urine sample. Candida urinary tract infection is becoming increasingly common in hospitalized patients but, differentia-tion fungal colonization from infection and identification of etiologic agents for optimal treatment is necessary.