Korean J Clin Pathol.  2000 Feb;20(1):76-80.

Comparison of Murex Candida albicans CA50 with the Germ Tube Test for Presumptive Identification of Candida albicans

• Lee SH
• Park SH
• Park JS
• Kim MN
• Pai CH

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Rapid and reliable identification of Candida albicans becomes more important because the incidence of yeast infections has increased in recent years. Murex C. albicans 50(CA50) assay was developed for rapid and presumptive identification of C. albicans. We evaluated the CA50 assay to identify C. albicans. METHOD: Seventy four yeast isolates from clinical specimens were tested with CA50 and germ tube test. They were identified to species level by API 20C and chlamydospore agar test. RESULT: Of the 74 isolates, 52 were C. albicans and 22 were non-albicans Candida. The sensitivity and specificity for CA50 were 88.5% and 86.4%, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of the germ tube test using human serum were 88.5% and 90.9% respectively, and those using fetal bovine serum(FBS) were 92.3% and 90.9% respectively.
CONCLUSION
CA50 was a rapid and easy-to-perform test, and it was comparable to germ tube test in regard of sensitivity and specificity.

Keyword

Germ tube test; API 20C Aux; Murex C. albicans CA50; Candida albicans

MeSH Terms

Agar
Candida albicans*
Candida*
Humans
Incidence
Sensitivity and Specificity
Yeasts
Agar