Carriage Of Candida Albicans Research Articles

Pathogenic carrier rate in diabetes mellitus

Thirty patients with diabetes mellitus were compared in terms of carrier rate of four pathogens to a group of matched controls. The diabetics were found to have a significantly increased carrier rate (p less than 0.005). When the blood glucose level was used as an indicator of control an increased rate was found in those with the poorest control (p less than 0.0005). An increased carriage of Candida albicans might be attributed to hypovitaminosis A and its effect on mucous membranes and the skin. Ten percent of diabetics were carrying beta-hemolytic group A streptococci. In a future study these patients will be checked for persistence of these organisms as well as to see if the strains are of the nephritogenic type. A significantly increased carriage rate in diabetes of coagulase-positive Staphylococcus aureus was found. These findings suggest an additional risk factor in the outpatient diabetic population.

The carriage of Candida albicans in the mouths of rats treated with tetracycline briefly or for a prolonged period.

Rats given tetracycline in their drinking water for one week were orally inoculated with Candida albicans in the following week. Colonization of the mouth by the fungus resulted, whether the rats continued to receive tetracycline or not, over a period of 22 weeks. Histological changes indicative of oral candidosis were also found both in rats maintained on tetracycline throughout the experiment and in animals given the drug only initially. It is suggested that exposure to tetracycline as tested in this experiment causes a lasting reduction in the rat's ability to expel C. albicans, or an enhancement of the organism's colonizing propensities.