A candidíase, principal infecção fúngica oportunista do ser humano, é provocada por leveduras do gênero Candida que fazem parte da microbiota endógena do corpo humano. O objetivo deste trabalho foi estudar as espécies de Candida envolvidas em processos inflamatórios da mama em mães que estavam amamentando no Banco de Leite Humano da Maternidade-Escola Assis Chateaubriand da Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC), verificando as atividades enzimáticas e as suscetibilidades aos principais antifúngicos usados na candidíase. As amostras foram colhidas de fissuras no mamilo, cultivadas em ágar Sabouraud a 37°C por 72 horas e identificadas por testes micológicos. Foram realizadas também provas da proteinase, fosfolipase e hialuronidase e testes de susceptibilidade a anfotericina B e fluconazol. Das 29 amostras, 13 (44,8%) apresentaram crescimento; 11 (84,6%) foram Candida albicans; uma (7,7%), C. stellatoidea;e uma (7,7%), C. guilliermondii. As atividades enzimáticas de C. albicans foram: 100% das cepas produziram fosfolipase; 64%, hialuronidase; e nenhuma produziu proteinase. As leveduras examinadas mostraram-se susceptíveis aos antifúngicos testados com concentração inibitória mínima (CIM) de: anfotericina B 0,125 a 0,5mig/ml e fluconazol 2 a 4mig/ml. Todas as cepas de C. albicans isoladas do mamilo de mães que estavam amamentando mostraram a enzima fosfolipase, que pode ser um importante fator de virulência, e apresentaram uma excelente susceptibilidade aos antifúngicos testados.

Candidiasis, human being's main opportunist fungal infection, is caused by Candida, a sort of yeasts which are part of endogenous microflora of the human body. The purpose of this research was to study the Candida species involved in the inflammatory processes of the breastfeeding mothers' nipples from the human milk bank on Assis Chateubriand maternity-school at the Universidade Federal do Ceará, Brazil. It was verified the enzymatic activities and the susceptibilities to the main used antifungal agents in candidiasis. The samples were collected from the wounds in the nipples and grown in Sabouraud agar at 37°C for 72 hours. They were identified by mycology tests. Proteinasis, phospholipase and hialuronidase tests were also made. Amphotericin B and fluconazole susceptibility tests, too. From the 29 samples, 13 (44. 8%) of the total presented growth; 11 (84.6%) of them were Candida albicans; 01 (7.7%) of them was C. stellatoidea and 01 (7.7%) of them was C. guilliermondii. The C. albicans enzymatic activities were: 100% of strains produced phospholipase; 64% produced hialuronidase and none of the strains produced proteolytic activity. The tested yeasts were susceptive to the antifungal agents tested with minimum inhibitory concentration - 0.125 - 0.5mug/ml for amphotericin B and 2 - 4mug/ml for fluconazol. All the C. albicans strains isolated from the breastfeeding mothers' nipples showed the phospholipase enzyme which can be an important virulence factor. They presented excellent susceptibilities to the antifungal agents tested.