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Th17 Inflammation Model of Oropharyngeal Candidiasis in Immunodeficient Mice
Published on: February 18, 2015
Colonization of Candida: prevalence among tongue-pierced and non-pierced immunocompetent adults
Y Zadik1, S Burnstein, E Derazne
1The Zrifin Central Dental Clinic, Medical Corps, Israel Defense Forces, Jerusalem, Israel. yzadik@gmail.com
Objective:
To evaluate the colonization of Candida at the tongue-piercing site of immunocompetent individuals.
Subjects And Methods:
Swabs samples were obtained from the anterior lingual mucosa of healthy young adults with tongue piercing (N = 115); 86 subjects with (non-intra-oral) facial piercing served as a comparison group. Candida colonization was examined by light microscopy after 5-day incubation. Positive specimens were re-cultured on Chromagar Candida plates for species identifying.
Results:
Candida colonization was more prevalent among tongue-pierced (20.0%) than facial-pierced subjects (9.4%; P = 0.048). All colonies were of Candida albicans. No difference was found between current tongue ornament wearers (21.2%) and non-wearers (19.5%; P = 0.803). In multivariate analysis, the only significantly positive influencing factors on colonization were tongue piercing (P = 0.034) and daily smoking of more than 10 cigarettes (P = 0.024).
Conclusions:
Piercing of the tongue was found to be a risk factor for colonization of Candida albicans, without an influence of whether or not an ornament is in place.
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