Abstract:
Candida albicans occurs as a commensal of the gastrointestinal tract.
Under predisposing conditions, candida can produce a broad array of infections.
HIV seropositive individuals show increased oral colonization compared to the
HIV seronegative healthy individuals. C. albicans shows a variety of pathogenic
factors. We have studied one such factor here; the adherence property of
C. albicans isolated from HIV seropositive individuals and HIV seronegative to
Human Buccal Epithelial Cells (HBEC) of normal healthy individuals. Materials
and Methods: Concentrated oral rinse specimen were collected from 50 healthy
volunteers (control group) and 25 HIV positive individuals (test group) and used
for isolation of C. albicans. Adherence assay was done using C. albicans isolates
from both groups on HBEC collected from HIV sero-negative, normal individuals.
The adherence assay method described by Kimura and Pearsall was used with
minor modification. Statistical Analysis Used: The results of Adhesion assay
were subjected to statistical analysis using student “t” test. Results: C. albicans
isolated from both the groups were tested for their adherence property to normal
HBEC. The isolates from test group showed more adherence to HBEC compared
to those of the control group, with average rate of adherence being 56.6%. The
control group showed average adherence rate of 29.1%. This was statistically
significant with p value equal to 0.05. Conclusion: C. albicans from HIV infected
individuals showed significant rise in degree of adhesion to the buccal epithelial
cells than the isolates from healthy controls, suggesting the enhancement of
virulence factors such as adherence in the presence of predisposing condition.
