Correlation of Candida Species and Carriage in Uncontrolled and Controlled Diabetics on Various Oral Hypoglycemic Drug Regimen.

Background: Oral candidiasis is most commonly caused by yeast like fungus Candida albicans and it is the most common opportunistic infection in diabetic individuals. This type of subclinical colonization can make them more prone to develop deeper mucosal colonization with further dissemination via blood. Materials and Methods: Sixty patients that were previously diagnosed as type 2 diabetics by physician and were on oral hypoglycaemic drugs for a minimum period of 3 months and based on HbA1c <8% were kept as controlled group. This group was further divided into 3 sub-groups based according to their drug regimens group 1A-sulfonylureas (SU), group 1B-sulfonylureas + biguanides (SU + BIS), group 1C-sulfonylureas + biguanides + dipeptidylpeptidase (SU + BIS + DPP). Unstimulated whole saliva collected under standard temperature and humidity condition. Salivary sample used for identification of candida species and carriage under sabouraud agar culture media. Results: Candida was cultured in 36.7% and 40% subjects in controlled and uncontrolled diabetic group, respectively. Candida albicans was most common isolated species, found in 6.7% and 13.3% of controlled and uncontrolled diabetics. A negative correlation was found with regards to Glipizide 5 mg (R = -0.004) (P = 0.981) and Pioglitazone 15 mg (R = -0.015) (P = 0.937). Conclusion: The results of our study indicates that individuals in either group are equally susceptible to oral Candida infections and oral hypoglycaemic drugs may impact the Candida carriage and Candidal species in diabetic individuals.