Candida adherence to mucosal epithelial cells with regard to its pathogenicity.

Twelve Candida strains were tested to compare their ability to adhere to human buccal and vaginal mucosa epithelial cells in vitro. The tests were performed in 0.9% saline and in phosphate buffer with both kinds of cells and additionally in saliva with buccal cells. The time of incubation was either 30 or 90 min. The pathogenicity of all of the fungal strains had been evaluated previously using viability test in mice. Eight strains were found to be pathogenic while four strains were considered to be not pathogenic. Out of the pathogenic ones, 5 strains of C. albicans, two strains of C. guilliermondi and one strain of C. stellatoidea were found. Non-pathogenic single strains were identified as C. krusei, C. parapsilosis, C. pseudotropicalis and C. tropicalis. The adherence tests with the pathogenic strains revealed significantly higher values for vaginal epithelial cells after 30 as well as after 90 min of incubation both in phosphate buffer and in saline in comparison to non-pathogenic ones (p less than 0.01). The adherence of the pathogenic strains to the buccal cells was significantly greater only after incubation in saline (p less than 0.05 after 30 min and p less than 0.01 after 90 min). The above findings suggest that adherence may be of importance in fungal colonization on mucous membrane surface resulting in development of fungal infection.