Evaluation of outbreak persistence caused by multidrug-resistant and echinocandin-resistant Candida parapsilosis using multidimensional experimental and epidemiological approaches

Candida parapsilosis is known to cause severe and persistent outbreaks in clinical settings. Patients infected with multidrug-resistant C. parapsilosis (MDR Cp) isolates were identified in a large Turkish hospital from 2017–2020. We subsequently identified three additional patients infected with MDR Cp isolates in 2022 from the same hospital and two echinocandin-resistant (ECR) isolates from a single patient in another hospital. The increasing number of MDR and ECR isolates contradicts the general principle that the severe fitness cost associated with these phenotypes could prevent their dominance in clinical settings. Here, we employed a multidimensional approach to systematically assess the fitness costs of MDR and ECR C. parapsilosis isolates. Whole-genome sequencing revealed a novel MDR genotype infecting two patients in 2022. Despite severe in vitro defects, the levels and tolerances of the biofilms of our ECR and MDR isolates were generally comparable to those of susceptible wild-type isolates. Surprisingly, the MDR and ECR isolates showed major alterations in their cell wall components, and some of the MDR isolates consistently displayed increased tolerance to the fungicidal activities of primary human neutrophils and were more immunoevasive during exposure to primary human macrophages. Our systemic infection mouse model showed that MDR and ECR C. parapsilosis isolates had comparable fungal burden in most organs relative to susceptible isolates. Overall, we observed a notable increase in the genotypic diversity and frequency of MDR isolates and identified MDR and ECR isolates potentially capable of causing persistent outbreaks in the future.