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Prevalence of Candida albicans and Candida dubliniensis in caries-free and caries-active children in relation to the oral microbiota—a clinical study

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Abstract

Objectives

The correlation between caries and the oral prevalence of Candida spp. in children is contradictory in literature. Thereby, authors focused on Candida albicans as the most isolated Candida species from the oral cavity. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to compare caries-free and caries-bearing children regarding their oral carriage of Candida spp.

Material and methods

Twenty-six caries-free (CF group) and 26 caries-active children (CA group) were included into this study. Three different types of specimens were assessed, saliva and plaque, and in the case of caries, infected dentine samples were microbiologically analyzed for aerobic and anaerobic microorganisms and their counts. Special attention was given to the differentiation between C. albicans and Candida dubliniensis. Additionally, different biochemical tests, VITEK 2 (VITEK®2, bioMérieux, Marcy-l’Etoile, France) and 16S and 18S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) sequencing, were applied for identification.

Results

The detection of C. albicans did not differ between the CF and CA groups. C. dubliniensis was never detected in any specimen of the CF group, but occurred in one quarter of the CA group (27 % in plaque, 23 % in saliva), thus leading to a statistically significant difference between the two groups (p < 0.05). In six of these cases, C. dubliniensis was detected concomitantly in saliva and plaque and once only in plaque. CA group harbored statistically more Streptococcus mutans than the control group revealing a correlation between S. mutans and C. dubliniensis regarding the caries group.

Conclusions

This is the first study reporting a frequent detection of C. dubliniensis in caries-active children, which could have been underestimated so far due to difficulties in differentiation between this yeast species and C. albicans.

Clinical relevance

Microbiological diagnostic—especially of oral Candida species—is an important determinant for identifying etiological factors of dental caries in children.

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Acknowledgments

Bettina Spitzmüller is acknowledged for the skillful technical laboratory assistance during the experiments. Special thanks are also given to Kristina Schmidt for helping with the English edits of the final version of the article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Operative Dentistry and Periodontology, Center for Dental Medicine, Albert-Ludwigs-University, Freiburg, Germany

    A. Al-Ahmad, R. Dakhel & E. Hellwig

  2. Department of Periodontology, Philipps-University, Marburg, Germany

    T. M. Auschill & N. B. Arweiler

  3. Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, Albert-Ludwigs-University, Freiburg, Germany

    A. Wittmer & K. Pelz

  4. Department of Statistics, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany

    C. Heumann

Authors
  1. A. Al-Ahmad
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  4. A. Wittmer
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  5. K. Pelz
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  6. C. Heumann
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  8. N. B. Arweiler
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to N. B. Arweiler.

Ethics declarations

All procedures performed in this clinical study were approved by the research committee of the Albert-Ludwig-University of Freiburg, Germany (approval no. 427/08), and in accordance with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Funding

The study received no funding.

Informed consent

Written informed consent was obtained from all individual participants and their parents prior to their inclusion in the study.

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Al-Ahmad, A., Auschill, T.M., Dakhel, R. et al. Prevalence of Candida albicans and Candida dubliniensis in caries-free and caries-active children in relation to the oral microbiota—a clinical study. Clin Oral Invest 20, 1963–1971 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00784-015-1696-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00784-015-1696-9

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