Yeast-Like Fungal Colonization of the Oral Cavity in Patients with Sjögren’s Syndrome

Abstract

The frequency of yeast-like fungal colonization of the oral mucosa in patients with Sjögren’s syndrome constitutes 40.0 ± 1.63%. Fungi are detected on the mucous membrane of the tongue more often (36.7 ± 1.61%) than on the mucous membrane of the gums (23.3 ± 1.41%). The extent of tongue mucosa colonization is also higher in comparison with the gum colonization. The extent of Candida colonization of tongue mucosa is 2.5 times higher in women with Sjögren’s syndrome as compared to men. The objective of the research was to study the level of candida colonization of various oral mucosa areas in patients with Sjögren’s syndrome. 26 fungal cultures were isolated from the examined patients. Candida albicans predominated among them constituting 14 strains (53.8±1.92%). C. albicans colonization of the oral mucosa was detected in 10 patients with Sjögren’s syndrome (30.0±1.53%). The extent of tongue mucosa colonization was 3.95±1.32 lg CFU/ml and the extent of gum colonization constituted 3.08±0.60 lg CFU/ml.

Keywords

• sjögren’s syndrome
• oral mucosa
• candida as a yeast-like fungus