---

Candida species are medically significant yeast that can cause different infection ranging from mild mucosal to disseminated infection. Invasive and sever mucosal infections are often life threatening disorders, especially in immunocompromised hosts due to immunodeficiency either in adaptive or innate immunity which are susceptible to candidiasis. Nevertheless, not all of them are susceptible to candidiasis which shows that genetic variation and polymorphism in immune system can play a crucial role in infection. Although genetic variation occurs rarely in human’s genome, it has a significant role in susceptibility to fungal infections. For example, genetic variation in coding genes of PRRs (TLR2, TLR4, Dectin I, Dectin II, and NLRp3) is correlated with susceptibility to candidiasis. Results have shown polymorphisms in genes that are involved in host defense against Candida infection. Therefore, genetic and immunological studies are highly necessary to understand the pathogenesis. Recently several studies have been performed on host defense against Candida infections which might be useful in the diagnosis and treatment of fungal infections. This paper represents a comprehensive overview of genetic susceptibility in human’s Candida infection.

---

Background and purpose: The choice of antifungal agent in treatment of Candida urinary tract infections (CUTI) is dependent on the site of infection, the underlying disease of the patient, and the pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics (PK/PD) of the agent. This study aimed to perform a review of antifungal therapy for CUTI.

Materials and methods: Data was obtained by a search for full-text articles in Medline, PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, Science Direct, Google Scholar, Magiran, Irandoc, and Iran Medex published from 1994 until 2016. The search keywords included urinary tract infections, Candida species, diagnosis, and treatment.

Results: Fluconazole is the drug of choice for prophylaxis and treatment of CUTI due to low toxicity, high solubility, and wide tissue distribution. Although flucytosine is concentrated in urine and has potent activity against Candida species, treatment is restricted because of its toxicity and expansion of resistance when it is used alone. In addition, amphotericin B is an active drug against most Candida species (except resistant C. krusei strains). Other azoles and echinocandins are not effective for treating CUTI due to the minimum excretion of the active compound into the urine. However, a localized renal infection followed by blood spreading might be treated by echinocandins because of its effective tissue concentrations.

Conclusion: We presented diagnostic tests and treatment protocols of CUTI, but new surveillance protocols and diagnostic strategies for control and prevention of CUTI in critically ill patients are essential.

---

Background and purpose: There is an increasing rate of drug resistance to azole among Candida species, so, finding new compounds that are effective in laboratory conditions, such as 3,4-dihydropyrimidine derivatives are important. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the antifungal sensitivity of 3,4-di-hydropyrimidine-1- (H2) -L- H1-pyrrole derivatives in Candida isolates.
Materials and methods: Antifungal sensitivity of 102 Candida isolates with the origin of otomycosis to dihydropyrimidine derivatives and itraconazole were evaluated by broth microdilution according to CLSI-M27S4 guidelines. The serial dilution range of compounds and antifungal drug was 0.016-16 μg/ml. A concentration of compounds that showed at least 50% growth inhibition compared to the positive control group was considered as the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). Statistical analysis was performed in SPSS V16. 
Results: Findings showed that 3,4-di-hydropyrimidine-1-(H2)-L-H1-pyrrole derivatives have higher MIC than itraconazole against Candida species. Also, comparing the MIC values of 3,4-di- hydropyrimidine with each other (P1-P4), P1 derivatives were found with lower MIC values than the other three derivatives and almost all compounds showed more efficacy against Candida albicans than other Candida species.
Conclusion: Although the antifungal effects of 3,4-dihydropyrimidine-1-(H2)-L-H1-pyrrole derivatives against Candida species were lower than itraconazole, but, making structural changes in these compounds can increase their antifungal effects.