Adhesion and invasion of Candida albicans from periodontal pockets of patients with chronic periodontitis and diabetes to gingival human fibroblasts.

The objectives of this study were to evaluate clinical isolates of Candida albicans, particularly their adhesion to and invasion of gingival human fibroblasts in culture and to measure nitric oxide concentration (NO) produced by fibroblasts in the presence of these yeasts. Sixteen strains of C. albicans isolated from patients with chronic periodontitis and diabetes mellitus type II were divided on the basis of phenotypic tests into two groups, i.e., highly or weakly hydrophobic. Primary cultures of human fibroblasts were isolated from gingival biopsies and after subsequent subcultures, the cells were seeded into culture plates and incubated for 24 h. C. albicans strains were inoculated into these plates and maintained for 2 and 4 h to assess their adhesion and invasion, respectively. The number of adherent or invasive yeasts was evaluated by assessing colony-forming units (CFU). The production of NO by fibroblasts was also quantified. The results showed that strains with high hydrophobicity had a greater ability to adhere and invade fibroblasts (p < 0.05, ANOVA and Tukey). The production of NO was higher for the most hydrophobic strains, but did not reach statistical difference with the weakly hydrophobic isolates. These data indicated that the hydrophobicity may play a role in the adhesion and invasion of C. albicans in fibroblast cultures.