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Background: Candida albicans is a common pathogenic, and the germ tube test is one of the identification techniques for this fungal species. Objectives: 1. To experiment with the germ tube test of C. albicans in various media according to the different testing time. 2. To evaluate capacity ofthe germ tube test in C. albicans identification in various media. Methods: This study was carried out with 36 C. albicans isolates and 10 C. tropicalis isolates stored at the Department of Parasitology. Germ tube test was performed using various media, including human sera, 1% peptone medium, BHI broth, egg white, egg yolk, and fetal bovine serum. These experiments were checked after two hours, three hours, and four hours of incubation. Results: The highest rate of germ tube formation of C.albicans was recognized after 3 hours of incubation. The germ tube rates on human serum, 1% peptone medium, egg white, egg yolk, and fetal bovine serum were 91.67%; 58.33%; 25%; 33.33%; 91.67%; and 100%, respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of the germ tube test on serum and egg yolk medium were 91.67%, 100%, 100%, and 76.92%. Conclusions. The capacity to identify C. albicans of the germ tube test performed on fetal bovine serum, human serum and yolk egg could identify 100%, 91.67%, and 91.67%, respectively. It suggested that egg yolk could be used in diagnostic labs as well as mycology researches and training labs to perform germ tube test production to replace human serum since it is a simple and low cost procedure. Key words: Candida albicans, germ tube, fetal bovine serum, yolk egg

Background: Trichophyton is the common genus in dermatophytes fungi in the world. These fungi secreted virulence enzymes that help them take nutrition from the host. Objectives: 1. To determinate enzymes secretion ability of Trichophyton species isolated from patients, including lipase, phospholipase, and protease. 2. To evaluate the correlation between enzyme secretion ability and dermatomycoses clinical forms. Material and methods: Trichophyton species were isolated from the cultivation samples of dermatophytosis patients. Enzyme production experiments were checked by cultivating fungi into suitable solid agar media. Results: The prevalence of Trichophyton spp. producing protease, lipase, and phospholipase were 96.1%%, 86.2%, and 21.6%, respectively. There were 78.4% of fungal strains that produced both lipase and protease, and 17.6% of fungal strains produced three enzymes. The ability to produce protease of T. rubrum was higher than T. mentagrophytes, and there was no statistically significant difference between lipase and phospholipase activities of these two fungal species. There was no difference between the fungal enzymatic activities and dermatophytosis clinical forms. Conclusion: Trichophyton species isolated from patients attending Hue University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital produced more protease and lipase than phospholipase. T. rubrum strains showed higher ability protease produce than T. mentagrophytes. Key words: dermatophytes, Trichophyton spp., fungal enzyme

Trichomoniasis is one of the most common sexual transmitted diseases with changable clinical features. The prevalence of metronidazole resistance was different among the studies in the literature. Objectives: The aim of this study was to describe the characteristics of T. vaginalis infection and to investigate the susceptibility with metronidazole of T. vaginalis strains. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional and experimental studies were performed using the interview, the direct examination, the culture of T. vaginalis in Diamond medium, and the investigation of the metronidazole susceptibility by broth microdilution method. Results: The rate of trichomoniasis was 0.37%, in which 16.7% of patients with single status, and 76.7% of those who did not use any contraceptive methods. The common symptoms were increased vaginal discharge, itching and pain (50%); opalescent vaginal discharge (33.3%), The rate of women with asymptomatic T. vaginalis was 26.7%. The percentage of metronidazole susceptibility, intermediate and resistance to metronidazole were 73.1%, 19.2% and 7.7%, respectively. Conclusions: The study showed that T. vaginalis infection had a low rate, high proportion of asymptomatic patients and 7.7% of patients were resistant to metronidazole. Key words: T. vaginalis, metronidazole, resistant

Trichomonosis is the most common non-viral sexually transmitted disease (STD) in the world. Due to the development of metronidazole-resistant isolates, therapeutic alternatives to 5-nitroimidazole are being investigated. T. vaginalis can be naturally infected with Mycoplasma hominis, Mycoplasma girerdii and Trichomonas vaginalis virus (TVV). Objective: 1) The essential oil from Melaleuca quinquenervia was used to test the anti-trichomonas activity. 2) Symbiosis was checked to determine whether there is any correlation between T. vaginalis – infected and T. vaginalis - free with esssential oil. Materials and methods: A total of 32 T. vaginalis isolates from Hue province subjected to susceptibility testing against essential oils by broth microdilution method. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to detect the presense of M. hominis and M. girerdii. TVV haboring protozoan was identified by total RNA extraction. Result: The M. quinquenervia essential oil showed antitrichomonal activity at the mean of MIC at 0.15 ± 0.07% after 24 hours and 0.09 ± 0.05% after 48 hours. There was no significant differences in MIC of essential oil to T. vaginalis-microorganisminfected and T. vaginalis-free. Conclusion: M. quinquenervia essential oil can be used as potential therapeutic natural resource for development of antitrichomonal drugs, to not only T. vaginalis-free isolates but also T. vaginalis-infected isolates.

Objectives: Identifying the species of Aspergillus isolated from patients and enviroment at Hue Hospital of Medicine and Pharmacy University; determining the resistance rate to antifungal drugs of common pathogen strains. Materials and methods: Samples were collected and identified follow morphology features, strains of Aspergillus were stored and checked by antifungal susceptibility testing. Results:6 species of Aspergillus were isolated from patients including A. terreus (58.1%), A. flavus (16.1%), A. niger (9.7%), A. versicolor (9.7%), A. fumigatus (3.2%), A. candidatus (3.2%). 9 species of Aspergillus were isolated from hospital enviroment including A. vesicolor, A. nidulans, A. sydowii, A. circumdati groups, A. restrictus, A. oryzae, A. ochraceus, A. flocculosus, A. japonicusIn antifungal susceptibility assays, 100% strains isolated from patients were susceptible to itraconazole. The resistance rate of A. terreus, A. flavus, A. niger to amphotericin B were 94.4%, 60% and 67% respectively. Voriconazole resistance of A. terreus, A. flavus, A. niger and A. versicolor were 66.7%, 20%, 67%, and 67% respectively. The propotion of caspofungi resistance were A. terreus (11.1%), A. flavus (40%) and A. versicolor (33%). Conclusion: A. terreus was the dominant species among isolates from patients of Hue Hospital of Medicine and Pharmacy University (58.1%). The appearance of A. versicolor and A. nidulans isolates from hospital environment might impact to human health. This pilot study displayed the extreme susceptibility of Aspergillus species to itraconazole. In addition, these isolates were highly resistant to amphotericin B and voriconazole. Key words: Aspergillus spp., anti-fungal drugs resistance, antifungal susceptibility testing