Isolation and Identification of Various Candida Species in Potentially Malignant Disorders of Oral Cavity: A Retrospective Study

Aim: The aim of this study was to find and compare various Candida species in the normal and ‘potentially malignant disorders’ of oral cavity.

Study Design: Retrospective cross-sectional study.

Materials and Methods: 110 subjects were selected for the study comprising of 55 normal healthy individuals (control group) and 55 patients with ‘‘potentially malignant disorders’’ (test group). A saliva swab was taken from the normal healthy individuals and patients with ‘potentially malignant disorders’ to check the presence of Candida on Sabouraud’s Dextrose Agar (SDA) media. A wedge shaped tissue sample from the representative site was surgically excised and sent for routine tissue processing for histopathological diagnosis. All the fungal colonies from SDA were subjected to further microbiological tests to check for the presence of various species of Candida.

Results: No fungus growth was found in the saliva of healthy patients. Out of 55 patients with ‘potentially malignant disorders’, Candida growth was isolated by using the culture method, 30 patients (54.5%) showed positive growth on Sabouraud’s Dextrose Agar (SDA) media, of which 23 were diagnosed cases of leukoplakia and 7 oral submucous fibrosis. No fungus growth was seen in patients with oral lichen planus. There is positive association between the potentially malignant lesions and Candida and the p-value (.006) is statistically significant.

Conclusion: The results of the study showed that a positive association exists between the ‘potentially malignant disorders’ and various Candida species and the p-value (.006) is statistically significant. The most prevalent Candida species was Candida albicans followed by Candida tropicalis, Candida glabrata, Candida Krusei.