title: Cytological analysis of the epithelial cells in patients with oral candidiasis.
abstract: The aim of this study was to evaluate oral epithelial cells of the oral mucosa infected by Candida albicans using exfoliative cytology. Oral smears were collected from clinically normal-appearing mucosa by liquid-based exfoliative cytology of 60 individuals (30 patients with oral candidiasis and 30 healthy controls matched for age and gender) and analysed for morphologic and cytomorphometric technique. Morphologically, candida-infected epithelial cells exhibited nuclear enlargement, perinuclear rings, discrete orangeophilia, and cytoplasmic vacuoles. The cytomorphometric analysis demonstrated that the cytoplasmic area (CA) of the epithelial cells was diminished in patients undergoing candidiasis as compared to the non-infected controls. In addition, there was an augmentation in nuclear area (NA) and NA/CA area ratio. This study revealed that oral mucosa of patients undergoing candidal infection exhibited significant changes in the size and shape of the oral epithelial cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Pathology, School of Dentistry, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil.
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Loss
authors.forename: Rodrigo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sandrin
authors.forename: Beatriz Helena Sottile
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: França
authors.forename: Luciana Reis
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: de Azevedo-Alanis
authors.forename: Ana Maria Trindade
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Grégio
authors.forename: Maria Ângela Naval
authors.initials: MÂ
authors.lastname: Machado
authors.forename: Antonio Adilson Soares
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: de Lima
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002175:Candida; D002176:Candida albicans; D002180:Candidiasis, Oral / Q000473:pathology*; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000473:pathology*; D015388:Organelles / Q000648:ultrastructure