Oral candida prevalence and species specificity in leprosy.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Leprosy represents a chronic progressive debilitating disease. The severe morbidity associated with leprosy predisposes the patients to opportunistic infections. To assess the oral candida prevalence and species specificity in lepromatous leprosy patients.

METHODS:

The cross-sectional study included 70 lepromatous leprosy patients under a multi-drug regimen for less than 1 year (group 1) and 70 healthy volunteers (group 2). Both group 1 and 2 were matched for potential confounding factors including age, gender, ethnicity, absence of HIV co-infection. Oral swab samples obtained from both groups were subjected to a series of conventional and molecular diagnostic modalities.

RESULTS:

Yeast growth was statistically higher (0.0006) in group 1 (45.7%) than in group 2 (18.5%). 28 of the 32 yeast growth in group 1 and all 13 yeast growth in group 2 were identified as candida. Among the 28 candida species in group 1, 23 (71.88%) were Candida albicans, 3 (9.37%) were Candida parapsilosis, 1 (3.13%) was Candida lusitaniae and 1 (3.13%) was Candida nivariensis. Among group 2, 11 (84.6%) were Candida albicans, 1 (7.7%) was Candida parapsilosis and 1 was Candida tropicalis.

CONCLUSION:

Oral candida prevalence is higher in leprosy patients than in healthy individuals, indicating a predisposition towards opportunistic infections. The increasing prevalence of the non-candida albicans species in leprosy is a major concern as they have shown to possess inherent resistant towards common anti-fungal agents.

• Authors: Bharti Gupta, Shekhar Gupta, Minal Chaudhary, A Thirumal Raj, Kamran Habib Awan, Shankargouda Patil
• Journal: Disease-a-month : DM (Dis Mon) Vol. 66 Issue 7 Pg. 100920 (Jul 2020) ISSN: 1557-8194 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 31796204 (Publication Type: Journal Article)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Topics

• Adult
• Candida (genetics, growth & development, ultrastructure)
• Candida albicans (genetics, growth & development, ultrastructure)
• Candida parapsilosis (genetics, growth & development, ultrastructure)
• Candida tropicalis (genetics, growth & development, ultrastructure)
• Candidiasis, Oral (epidemiology)
• Case-Control Studies
• Cross-Sectional Studies
• Female
• Humans
• India (epidemiology)
• Leprosy (complications, drug therapy, microbiology, pathology)
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Opportunistic Infections (epidemiology)
• Prevalence
• Species Specificity