Commercial mouthwashes are more effective than azole antifungals against Candida albicans biofilms in vitro.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the activity of prescription and over-the-counter antimicrobial compounds against planktonic and biofilm forms of Candida albicans isolated from cases of oral candidiasis in vitro.

STUDY DESIGN:

The efficacy of azoles, polyenes, an echinocandin, and 4 over-the-counter mouthwashes were tested against C. albicans-derived planktonic and biofilm cells.

RESULTS:

Planktonic cells were shown to be highly sensitive to all of the antifungal agents tested. Sessile cells were highly resistant to azoles (≥128 mg/L) but equally sensitive to caspofungin and short treatments with Corsodyl, Listerine, and Oraldene.

CONCLUSIONS:

Although C. albicans is sensitive to azole antifungal agents in planktonic form, it is highly resistant within the biofilm. The good efficacy of the over-the-counter mouthwashes against candidal biofilms in vitro suggests that clinical trials should now be designed to establish their role in the clinical management of oral candidal infections.

• Authors: Gordon Ramage, Anto Jose, Brent Coco, Ranjith Rajendran, Riina Rautemaa, Colin Murray, David F Lappin, Jeremy Bagg
• Journal: Oral surgery, oral medicine, oral pathology, oral radiology, and endodontics (Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol Endod) Vol. 111 Issue 4 Pg. 456-60 (Apr 2011) ISSN: 1528-395X [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 21310633 (Publication Type: Comparative Study, Evaluation Study, Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2011 Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Chemical References

• Antifungal Agents
• Azoles
• Echinocandins
• Mouthwashes
• Nonprescription Drugs
• Polyenes

Topics

• Antifungal Agents (chemistry, pharmacology)
• Azoles (pharmacology)
• Biofilms (drug effects)
• Candida albicans (drug effects, metabolism)
• Chi-Square Distribution
• Echinocandins (pharmacology)
• Humans
• Microbial Sensitivity Tests
• Mouthwashes (therapeutic use)
• Nonprescription Drugs (pharmacology)
• Plankton (drug effects)
• Polyenes (pharmacology)
• Statistics, Nonparametric