Association of oral candida carriage in prediabetic smokers, non-smokers and controls

The prevalence of diabetes and pre-diabetes has reached epidemic proportions. Worldwide, the number of people with pre-diabetes (impaired glucose tolerance) in the age group 20–79 was 308 million in 2007, and is expected to increase to 418 million by the year 2025. Aims and Objective: To evaluate and compare the association of oral candida amongst 1. Smoker prediabetic. 2. Non-smoker prediabetic. 3. Controls. Materials and Methods: The sample size included 60 patients i.e. 20 smoker prediabetic, 20 nonsmoker prediabetic and 20 age and sex matched controls. Fasting blood sugar levels were obtained using routine haemogram. Oral Candida samples collected from saliva. At 37 o C Candida strains were cultured in Sabouraud dextrose agar and quantified. Results: Oral Candida albicans carriage was significantly higher in prediabetic smokers (60.6%) and the prediabetic non-smokers (23.3%) compared with controls (16.7%). There was a statistically significant difference observed amongst three groups in the mean CFU value. Conclusion: The prevalence of oral Candida carriage was significantly higher in prediabetic smokers than prediabetic non-smokers compared to controls. Since Candida species may cause opportunistic infections in immune-suppressed patients, additional attention should be paid to usage of tobacco particularly in patients with immune-suppressive disorders.