Abstract: The incidence of candidiasis caused by Candida albicans has increased dramatically in recent years. With the widespread use of antifungal agents, the emergence of medicine resistant strains poses a major challenge to drug treatment. Antimicrobial drug resistance mechanisms can largely be classified into two broad categories. The first category includes mechanisms to bypass the effects of the antimicrobial on the cell. Such mechanisms include alterations in the drug target that block drug binding or increased production of multidrug transporters that simply remove the drug from the cell. The second category includes the stress reaction of the cell to cope with drug. Such mechanisms include metabolic alterations that minimize the toxicity of the drug, as well as the activation of chaperones and signal transduction cascades dedicated to sensing and responding to various stresses.

Key words: Candida albicans, Drug resistance, fungal, Candidiasis, vulvovaginal