Differences in mucosal reaction related to Candida albicans isolates.

In order to examine the behavior of Candida albicans in an oral mucosal model, 16 isolates of the organism were collected from a variety of clinical settings and were inoculated weekly, in equal numbers and concentrations, into the mouths of separate groups of 20 female Sprague-Dawley rats. Oral swabs were taken bi-weekly in order to monitor the presence of the yeast. After 16 weeks, the animals were killed and the tongues were examined grossly and histologically. Six isolates demonstrated the ability to produce characteristic dorsal tongue lesions to varying degrees (1/20; 1/20; 1/20; 2/20; 3/20; and 12/20). Of the remaining 10 isolates, 5 showed hyphal penetration of the keratin layer of the dorsal tongue epithelium, yet no mucosal reaction was elicited and no lesion was produced (1/19; 2/19; 4/20; 5/20 and 5/20). These findings support the concept that C. albicans exhibits a spectrum of mucosal pathogenicity for dorsal rat tongue.