Nutritional deficiency in oral candidosis

A retrospective study of 108 patients was carried out to investigate the possible relationship between infection of the mouth with Candida albicans and blood levels of iron, folic acid and vitamin B12. The patients were separated into two groups--those with hyperplastic and those with atrophic candidal lesions--and compared with separate control groups. Twenty-one patients had chronic hyperplastic candidosis and seven were iron deficient. Comparison with an age- and sex-matched control group showed the differences to be significant only at the p less than 0.1 level. Seven of the patients with hyperplastic lesions had folic acid deficiency and the difference between patients and controls was statistically significant (less than 0.05). However, no significant differences in iron or folic acid deficiency were noted between 87 patients with atrophic candidosis and 65 conttrols, and vitamin B12 deficiency was not statistically significant for either the hyperplastic or the atrophic group. It is concluded that deficiency of iron, folic acid or vitamin B12 alone does not promote growth of Candida albicans on the oral mucous membrane but that in some susceptible individuals, iron or folic deficiency may facilitate epithelial invasion by hyphae of Candida albicans.