Study of virulence factor of Candida species in oral lesions and its association with potentially malignant and malignant lesions.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to explore the association between malignant and premalignant lesions and the virulence factor profile of Candida spp. recovered from different oral lesions. DESIGN: Candida spp. isolated from malignant lesions (squamous cell carcinoma, OC, n = 25), atypical lichen planus (AL, n = 11), chronic candidiasis (CC, n = 25), and asymptomatic carriers (WI, n = 15, control strains.) Isolates were identified in chromogenic medium, colony morphology and biochemical tests. The lipolytic and proteinase activity was determined on supplemented agar with olive oil and BSA, respectively. The biofilm formation with XTT reduction assay and cellular surface hydrophobicity (CSH) by water-hydrocarbon method were performed. RESULTS: All isolates recovered from oral lesions produced the four virulence factors studied with significantly higher levels than in WI isolates. Interestingly, lipolytic activity was absent in WI isolates. The proteolytic activity was similar in AL and OC isolates. OC isolates showed significantly higher CSH values than other clinical isolates. Non-albicans species showed higher biofilm formation than C.albicans (P = 0.03.) There were no significant differences in virulence factors among species. A strong positive correlation was found between proteinase and lipase activity (r = 0.90, P < 0.0001), and between hydrophobicity and biofilm (R = 0.81, P < 0.0001.) CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that OC Candida isolates exhibited a significant higher attributes of virulence than other lesions fungus isolates, providing evidence about the association between Candida pathogenicity and lesions severity.

Evaluation of clinical dental variables to build classifiers to predict celiac disease.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of salivary variables to build statistical models for predicting celiac disease in symptomatic children. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study group consisted of 52 children with celiac disease diagnosed by bowel biopsy, grade III or IV (4 to 12 years old, both sexes) and 23 healthy children as a control group. A logistic regression model was applied to evaluate an individual's belonging to one group or another. The performance of the model was evaluated by the value of area under the ROC curve. The salivary variables included in the model were the concentration of total proteins, calcium, Ca/P molar ratio, buffer capacity and salivary flow. RESULTS: The total proteins (p = 0.0016) and Ca/P molar ratio (p = 0.0237) variables were significantly associated with the celiac condition. The value of the area under the ROC curve, estimated from the probabilities of the logistic model, showed that salivary component values allow the celiac condition of patients to be predicted with 85% accuracy (p <0.0001). CONCLUSION: Logistic discriminant analysis built with salivary variables shows that these are good for predicting this eating pathology with 85% accuracy.

Effect of the high molecular weight chitosan and sodium alginate on Candida albicans hydrophobicity and adhesion to cells.

UNLABELLED: The aim of the present paper is to evaluate the effect of the high molecular weight chitosan (HMWC) and of sodium alginate (NaAL) on surface hydrophobicity of Candida albicans and on adhesion of the yeast to epithelial cells and fibroblasts of different proceeding. For this study, a collection strain and seven isolates of C. albicans from saliva (patients with denture stomatitis) were grown in Sabouraud glucose agar supplemented with HMWC or NaAL or in absence of them (control). Hydrophobicity was determined by adhesion to hydrocarbons method using two organic media (xylene and chloroform). For adhesion experiments, aqueous suspensions of yeasts were contacted with solutions of biopolymers and different cells (rat and human fibroblasts and epithelial cells Hep-2). The quantification of adhesion was made by optical microscopy. RESULTS: A decrease in hydrophobicity was observed in the presence of HMWC (44%) and of NaAL (82%) when chloroform was employed as organic medium, meanwhile the decreases were of 30% with HMWC and 19% with NaAL in the presence of xylene. Adhesion of C. albicans to epithelial cells and human fibroblasts decreased significantly with both biopolymers. In the case of rat fibroblasts, a decrease was observed only with NaAL. None of experiments showed significant differences associated to fibroblast type. CONCLUSIONS: Biopolymers showed effectiveness in reducing hydrophobicity and adhesion of C. albicans to cells, which are important virulence factors related to colonization of the soft tissues of host or acrylic surfaces present in the oral system.

Estado de salud bucodental de escolares residentes en localidades abastecidas con agua de consumo humano de muy alto y muy bajo contenido de fluoruros / State of oral health among schoolchildren living in towns supplied with drinking water containing very high and very low levels of fluoride

Descreve e analisa os resultados de uma pesquisa epidemiológica de corte transversal destinada a avaliar o estado de saúde buco-dental de escolares de 6-7 e 12-13 anos, residentes em Sampacho e Porteña, duas localidades da Província de Córdoba (Argentina), abastecidas com água potável contendo quantidade de F- muito diferentes. Em Sampacho, o nível de F- é de 9,05 mg/l enquanto que em Porteña a concentraçäo é de 0,19 mg/l. A proporçäo de escolares (6-7 e 12-13 anos) que näo apresentaram cárie foi significativamente maior em Sampacho do que em Porteña, enquanto, que os índices ceo-d, ceo-s, CPO-D e CPO-S resultaram consideravelmente mais altos nesta última localidade. A severidade da doença de cárie nas crianças de 12-13 anos de Sampacho esteve compreendida entre as categorias baixa e moderada (CPO-D = 2,53), enquanto que em suas similares em Porteña atingiu o grau de moderada e alta (CPO-D=4,41). Näo se registrou nenhum caso de fluorose dental em Porteña enquanto que em Sampacho houve uma alta proporçäo de crianças que apresentou fluoroses leve (6-7 anos) e leve ou intensa (12-13 anos). Os níveis salivares de cálcio, fosfatos, tiocianato, proteínas totais e lg A secretora foram muito similares nos escolares de ambas localidades, e também entre crianças com diferentes tipos de cárie e diferentes graus de gravidade de fluorose. Conclui ser necessária a aplicaçäo de medidas sanitárias urgentes (preventivas ou curativas) para reduzir ou controlar as doenças de cárie em Porteña e a fluorose dental em Sampacho

Condición socioeconómica, salud bucodental y factores asociados en la población infantil (5 años) de la ciudad de Córdoba, Argentina / Socio-economic status, oral health and related factors in a child population (5 years old) of the Cordoba city, Argentina

Se exponen e interpretan los resultados de una investigación referida al estado de salud bucodental de preescolares (5 años) de la ciudad de Córdoba (Argentina). El 95,8 por ciento de los niños del nivel económico social más alto (NES I) tenía un ceo-d menor o igual que el percentilo 80 de la población infantil, mientras que en la categoría socioeconómica más baja (NES III) sólo el 66,9 por ciento de los niños no excedía ese valor. Las superficies oclusales de los molares fueron las que presentaban mayor experiencia de caries, aunque la enfermedad se inició preferentemente en el segundo molar superior (NES I) y en el segundo molar inferior (NES III). El consumo de golosinas incrementó la frecuencia de caries en los niños de los NES I y II, no así en los del NES III. La práctica del cepillado y del control odontológico tuvieron muy poco efecto sobre la salud bucodental. Las concentraciones salivales de calcio, fosfatos, proteínas totales, glucoproteínas e IgA secretoria resultaron casi idénticas en todos los niveles socioeconómicos y no estuvieron relacionadas con la experiencia de caries