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Published on: December 10, 2013
Investigating the effectiveness of atorvastatin mouthwash on denture stomatitis: A randomized, double-blind
Iman Haghani1, Majid Saeedi2, Amirhossein Babaei3
1Assistant Professor, Invasive Fungi Research Center, Communicable Diseases Institute, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran; and Department of Medical Mycology, School of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
Statement Of Problem:
Denture stomatitis (DS) is a common oral disorder in patients with complete maxillary dentures. Typical treatments such as nystatin or azoles lead to drug resistance after a long period. Several studies have shown the antifungal activity of statins against Candida albicans; however, studies on the antifungal effect of atorvastatin against DS are lacking.
Purpose:
The purpose of this randomized, double-blind controlled trial was to assess the effectiveness of atorvastatin mouthwash against DS.
Material And Methods:
Twenty-two participants diagnosed with DS were randomly allocated into 2 groups: 11 in the intervention group (atorvastatin mouthwash) and 11 in the control group (nystatin). Participants were asked to use the mouthwash 3 times a day for 2 weeks. The length and width of the lesions were measured, and the number of colonies were counted on days 1 and 14. Data were analyzed with the Spearman correlation coefficient and the Mann-Whitney, Kruskal Wallis, and Wilcoxon tests (α=.05).
Results:
The number of colonies before and after using a mouthwash was significantly different in the control and intervention groups (P=.005 and P=.003, respectively). The number of colonies in the 2 groups were statistically similar on the first day (P=.809). However, a significant difference was observed between the groups on day 14 (P=.024). The number of colonies in the atorvastatin group decreased more than nystatin, indicating that atorvastatin was more effective. A significant difference among the groups was found in terms of Candida species detected after the intervention (P=.032).
Conclusions:
Atorvastatin was effective in reducing Candida species in participants with DS and can be used as an antifungal agent in treating DS.
