Effects of eating disorders on oral fungal diversity.
BACKGROUND
The eating disorders anorexia and bulimia nervosa can cause several systemic and oral alterations related to poor nutrition and induced vomiting; however, the oral microflora of these patients is poorly studied.


OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to evaluate fungal microflora in the oral cavity of these patients by culture-dependent and culture-independent methods.


METHODS
Oral rinse samples were cultured to assess the prevalence of Candida species, and the isolates were identified by API system. Microorganism counts were compared by the Mann-Whitney test (5%). Ribotyping, a type of molecular analysis, was performed by sequencing the D1/D2 regions of 28S rRNA.


RESULTS
Our results demonstrated that the eating disorder group showed higher oral Candida spp. prevalence with culture-dependent methods and higher species diversity with culture-independent methods.


CONCLUSIONS
Eating disorders can lead to an increased oral Candida carriage. Culture-independent identification found greater fungal diversity than culture-dependent methods.
Department of Biosciences and Oral Diagnosis, São José dos Campos Dental School, University Estadual Paulista, São José dos Campos, Brazil. grazinback@yahoo.com.br
Graziella Nuernberg
GN
Back-Brito
Adolfo José
AJ
da Mota
Luciano Ângelo
LÂ
de Souza Bernardes
Sílvia Satomi
SS
Takamune
Eliane de Fátima Gomes Barbosa
Ede F
Prado
Táki Athanássios
TA
Cordás
Ivan
I
Balducci
Francisco Gorgônio
FG
da Nobrega
Cristiane Yumi
CY
Koga-Ito
D000328:Adult; D044822:Biodiversity; D002175:Candida / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D046508:Culture Techniques; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000382:microbiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009055:Mouth / Q000382:microbiology*; D016533:Mycological Typing Techniques; D012331:RNA, Fungal / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D055815:Young Adult
D012331:RNA, Fungal