Background: Oro-pharyngeal candidosis is a frequently initial clinical manifestation of HIV infection and the adhesive properties of Candida spp. represent a very important pathogenicity factor.
Methods: In this study the adhesivity rate of Candida albicans to the oral epithelial cells of 33 HIV-positive patients and 12 healthy volunteers, have been assessed before and after the exposure of blastospores to inhibitory concentrations of fluconazole, in relation to 11 morphotypes obtained from 13 C. albicans strains.
Results: Results can be summarized as follows: 1) the number of blastospores adhering to the HIV-positive donor' cells is higher than that of blastospores adhering to the healthy donors' cells (rate is 2.7:1); 2) blastospores from strains producing rough or very coarse fringes show adhesive properties higher than those of strains with different morphology; 3) in the group of HIV-positive patients the adhesivity inhibition of blastospores from strains producing rough or very coarse fringes was higher (38.3%) than that of strains with different morphology (33.8%); 4) overall, adhesivity inhibition due to exposure to fluconazole is higher for epithelial cells from healthy donors.
Conclusions: These results can suggest the validity of an antimycotic pretreatment of persons at risk of oro-pharyngeal candidiasis.