Ameyalli Jocelyn Martinez Delgado; María Argelia Akemi Nakagoshi Cepeda; Sonia Martha López Villarreal; Laura Elena Villarreal García; Alejandra Montoya Rosales & Osvelia Esmeralda Rodríguez Luis
Summary
Candida albicans is a dimorphic, yeast-like fungus, commensal of the human microbiota found on the oropharyngeal surface. The objective of this study was to analyze the literature regarding Candida albicans from the dental point of view, epidemiology, pathogenesis, immune response, and treatment. An information search was carried out in the PubMed database using the terms “Candida albicans”, in combination with “oral epidemiology”, “pathogenesis”, “immune response”, “oral candidiasis” and “treatment”. Epidemiology- In Mexico, it was reported that a group of 60 children with HIV/AIDS and another group of 55 children with malnutrition showed the highest frequency of Candida spp with 51.7% and 38.2% respectively. Oral candidiasis occurs especially inpatients with malignant neoplasms and undergoing chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy with an incidence of 7 % to 52 % and associated with the use of dental prostheses in 15% to 70% of people. Oral candidiasis - Acute pseudomembranous candidiasis is the most common form of oral candidiasis. Factors such as xerostomia, smoking, oral prostheses, dental caries, diabetes, and cancer treatment accelerate the process of oral candidiasis formation. Pathogenesis- Candida albicans virulence factors such as adhesins, morphogenetic conversion and enzyme secretion can cause disease; Candidalysin is a cytolytic peptide secreted by Candida albicans hyphae. Immune response- As part of innate immunity in mucosa, epithelial cells mount complex immune responses that discriminate between commensal and pathogenic microbes, including C. albicans. Treatment-Candida albicans has shown resistance to azoles. Evaluating the pathogenesis and immunity of Candida albicans in the oral mucosa will help develop effective preventive and therapeutic strategies against oral candidiasis.
KEY WORDS: Candida albicans, oral immunity, immune response, fungus, oral candidiasis.
How to cite this article
MARTINEZ, D. A. J.; NAKAGOSHI, C. M. A. A.; LÓPEZ, V. S. M.; VILLARREAL, G. L. E.; MONTOYA R. A. & RODRÍGUEZ, L. O. E. Pathogenesis and immunity of Candida albicans in the oral mucosa. Literature review. Int. J. Odontostomat., 18(4):443-449, 2024.