title: Distribution of Candida albicans and non-albicans Candida species in oral candidiasis patients: Correlation between cell surface hydrophobicity and biofilm forming activities.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purposes of this investigation were to study the prevalence of Candida albicans and non-albicans Candida (NAC) species from oral candidiasis patients and evaluate the cell surface hydrophobicity (CSH) and biofilm forming capacity of the clinical isolates Candida species from oral cavity.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study identified a total of 250 Candida strains isolated from 207 oral candidiasis patients with PCR-RFLP technique. CSH value, total biomass of biofilm and biofilm forming ability of 117 oral Candida isolates were evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  C. albicans (61.6%) was still the predominant species in oral candidiasis patients with and without denture wearer, respectively, followed by C. glabrata (15.2%), C. tropicalis (10.4%), C. parapsilosis (3.2%), C. kefyr (3.6%), C. dubliniensis (2%), C. lusitaniae (2%), C. krusei (1.6%), and C. guilliermondii (0.4%). The proportion of mixed colonization with more than one Candida species was 18% from total cases. The relative CSH value and biofilm biomass of NAC species were greater than C. albicans (p<0.001). Ninety-two percent of oral isolates NAC species had biofilm forming ability, whereas 78% of C. albicans were biofilm formers. Furthermore, the significant difference of relative CSH values between biofilm formers and non-biofilm formers was observed in the NAC species (p<0.005), whereas the difference was not statistically significant in C. albicans.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The frequency of the NAC species colonization in oral cavity was gradually increasing. The possible contributing factors might be high cell surface hydrophobicity and biofilm forming ability. The relative CSH value could be a putative factor for determining biofilm formation ability of the non-albicans Candida species.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Microbiology, Faculty of Dentistry, Mahidol University, Bangkok, 10400, Thailand.
authors.forename: Thaniya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Muadcheingka
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Microbiology, Faculty of Dentistry, Mahidol University, Bangkok, 10400, Thailand. Electronic address: pornpen.tan@mahidol.ac.th.
authors.forename: Pornpen
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tantivitayakul
mesh_terms: D018441:Biofilms; D018533:Biomass; D002175:Candida / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002176:Candida albicans / Q000302:isolation & purification; D002180:Candidiasis, Oral / Q000382:microbiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D008297:Male; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D013785:Thailand
keywords: Biofilm formation; Candida albicans; Cell surface hydrophobicity; Non-albicans Candida species