Effects of dietary sugars and, saliva and serum on Candida biofilm formation on acrylic surfaces

Abstract

The effect of two dietary sugars, glucose and galactose, on biofilm formation of the oral fungal pathogen Candida on denture acrylic strips coated with saliva and serum pellicles was examined in vitro using Candida albicans (3 isolates), C. glabrata (2 isolates) and C. tropicalis (2 isolates). The degree of biofilm activity was affected by both the dietary sugar and the nature of the pellicle (ANOVA, p ≤ 0.01). With most isolates the glucose grown yeasts demonstrated significantly more bioflim activity than the galactose grown fungi, in the presence of pellicles (ANOVA, p ≤ 0.01 or P ≤ 0.01). In contrast, one isolate of galactose-grown yeast elicited significantly higher biofilm activity than glucose-grown yeasts on the control strips (ANOVA, p ≤ 0.01). Taken together, these results imply that a saliva or a serum pellicle, and the carbon source in the environment, act a complex manner modulating Candida bioflim formation.