Fungicide Driving Candida tropicalis Drug Resistance

Prelims: Current events of national and international importance

Why in news?

Recently researchers from Fudan University, Shanghai discovered that the use of agricultural fungicide tebuconazole is linked to increasing azole-resistant C. tropicalis infections.

• About Candida tropicalis – It is an important fungal pathogen in India and globally and it can cause serious illness, especially in people with weak immunity.
• It causes severe infections with 55-60% mortality rate.
• Treatment – It is treated using antifungal drugs from the azole group, especially fluconazole and voriconazole.
• Recent Findings – Many strains (types) of Candida tropicalis are becoming resistant to these medicines.
• This means the medicines are not working as effectively, making the infection harder to treat.
• Tebuconazole is structurally similar to medical azoles and accumulates in the environment, promoting resistant strains.

Mechanism of Resistance

• A fungicide called Tebuconazole is widely used by farmers to protect crops.
• This fungicide belongs to the same chemical family (Azoles) as the medicines used for treatment.
• Over time, the fungus gets used to this chemical in the environment, and develops resistance.
• This resistance makes the fungus stronger and harder to kill with medical drugs.
• When Candida tropicalis is exposed to tebuconazole, it undergoes genetic changes called aneuploidy.

Aneuploidy means the fungus changes its number of chromosomes (genetic material), which helps it survive the chemicals.

• These changes make the fungus more resistant to medical drugs like fluconazole and voriconazole and more dangerous and harder to treat.
• Implications – Overuse of such fungicides in farming can lead to more drug-resistant infections in humans.
• These infections are harder to treat, can spread, and increase health risks.
• The situation is an example of how what happens in agriculture can affect human health directly.
• Study reinforces the One Health principle where agricultural practices impact human health.
• It highlights need for,
  • Regulating agricultural fungicide use.
  • Monitoring environmental reservoirs of drug resistance.
  • Global cooperation to combat emerging fungal threats.

Reference

The Hindu| Fungicide Driving Candida tropicalis Drug Resistance