We determined the susceptibility towards ketoconazole in 103 Candida isolates collected from the oral cavity of 2 groups of patients with an increased risk for fungal infections by means of the NCCLS method. Group I, comprised 77 individuals with oncological diseases who exhibited clinical lesions in the oral mucous membrane, while group II comprised 26 patients with bullous and connective tissue diseases who did not present lesions suggesting fungal infections. Candida strains recovered from group I patients belonged to 8 species, while strains from group II to C. albicans only. The MIC of the most common C. albicans species from group I patients, ranged between 0.0156 and 8 µg/ml, while in the case of group II C. albicans isolates between 0.0156 and 1 µg/ml. For the remaining non-albicans strains, MICs ranged between 0.0312 and 4 µg/ml. The Chi-square test demonstrated differences between MIC values of C. albicans isolates from 2 groups of patients. Results suggested a higher susceptibility towards ketoconazole of C. albicans isolates from group II patients.

Keywords: Ketoconazole, Azoles, Candida, Yeasts