Fungi of the genus Rhodotorula isolated from the oral cavity of oncologic patients with colorectal cancer

This paper concerns the frequency of occurrence and enzymatic activity of fungi of the genus Rhodotorula isolated from the oral cavity of patients with colorectal cancer. Swabs from the oral cavity were subjected to standard mycological diagnostic procedures; enzymatic activity of the fungi was evaluated using and API Zym test by BioMereux. The fungi of the genus Rhodotorula were noted in 22.5% positive isolates originating from women and 25.7% positive isolates originating from men. They included mono-species isolates of: Rh. glutinis, Rh. minuta, Rh. mucilaginosa and two-species isolates: Rh. minuta + Candida dubliniensis, Rh. mucilaginosa + C. albicans and Rh. mucilaginosa + Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The enzymatic activity of the isolated fungi was evaluated as high and very high in the case of acidic and alkaline phosphatase, esterase lipase, lipase, as well as leucine, valine and cysteine arylamidase. The highest values were determined in Rh. mucilaginosa with co-occurrence of C. albicans and Rh. minuta with co-occurrence of C. dubliniensis. In the ontosphere of oncologic patients, the increasingly frequent appearance of the species of fungi with high and very high enzymatic activity indicates the progressing risk posed by opportunistic forms, which includes Rhodotorula species.