Prevalence of Oral Candida Infections in Diabetic Patients

Abstract

Results: Positive yeast was detected in 58.3% of diabetics compared with 30% in healthy controls (P<0.001). C. albicans was the most prevalent species in both diabetics (81.8%) and controls (76.9%) followed by C. tropicalis, C. parapsilosis and C. glabrata. C. kefyr and C. krusei were isolated only from diabetics at a combined rate of 1.3%. Candida was detected more frequently in diabetic denture wearers than in control counterparts in all anatomic sampled sites (P<0.05). The frequency of Candida isolation was significantly higher in smokers than in the non-smokers in both diabetics and controls (P<0.001). All C. albicans recovered from diabetics and controls were susceptible to amphotericin B, ketoconazole, itraconazole and fluconazole. Non-albicans Candida isolates were shown to have higher azole MIC values than C. albicans isolates. Conclusions: Our findings show that smoking and continuously worn dentures, promote oral candidal colonization in diabetics.