Adhesion of Candida parapsilosis to epithelial and acrylic surfaces correlates with cell surface hydrophobicity.
We investigated in vitro adherence of 24 isolates of Candida parapsilosis and 12 isolates of Candida albicans with regard to their relative cell-surface hydrophobicity (CSH), adherence to human buccal epithelial cells (BEC) and acrylic surfaces. There was no significant interspecies difference in the relative adherence of C. parapsilosis and C. albicans isolates to BEC, although the former demonstrated a tendency for increased adherence. However, a significant intra-species variation in adherence among isolates of C. parapsilosis (P < 0.0001) to BEC, but not of C. albicans was noted. The superficial isolates of C. parapsilosis demonstrated a higher avidity (33%) to BEC than the systemic isolates. On regression analysis a significant positive correlation between C. parapsilosis adherence to BEC and denture acrylic surfaces was noted (r = 0.45, P = 0.02). Similarly, buccal cell adherence correlated strongly with CSH of C. parapsilosis (r = 0.63, P = 0.0008). These results shed further light on the intimate relationship between adherence and CSH in candidal colonization and imply that both C. parapsilosis and C. albicans are equally potent in colonizing mucosal surfaces with respect to the attributes investigated.
Panagoda
G J
GJ
Faculty of Dentistry, University of Hong Kong, 34 Hospital Road, Hong Kong.
Ellepola
A N
AN
Samaranayake
L P
LP
D000180:Acrylic Resins; D002175:Candida / Q000502:physiology*; D002176:Candida albicans / Q000502:physiology; D002177:Candidiasis / Q000382:microbiology; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D003778:Dentures; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000166:cytology* / Q000382:microbiology; D013499:Surface Properties
D000180:Acrylic Resins