Epidemiology and phospholipase activity of oral Candida spp. among patients with central nervous system diseases before and after dental cleaning procedure

Patients suffering of diseases that affect central nervous system may be considered more susceptible to the infectious diseases of mouth. Sixty-nine patients suffering of cerebral palsy, Down's syndrome and metal retardation were submitted to saliva examination for the presence of Candida spp. before and after a procedure of dental cleaning. The isolates were submitted to assay for verifying phospholipase production. 55.10 percent of the patients provided isolation of Candida spp. The frequency of isolation obtained before dental procedure was: C. albicans (83.33 percent), C. krusei (8.33 percent) and C. kefyr, C. parapsilosis and C. glabrata (2.78 percent each). The frequency after the procedure was: C. albicans (68.57 percent), C. parapsilosis (11.43 percent), C. krusei and C. kefyr (8.57 percent each) and Candida glabrata (2.86 percent). We verified significantly difference (p < 0.01) between populations obtained at the two examinations. Phospholipase production was verified only among C. albicans strains and the proportion of producers was higher when testing isolates obtained after dental cleaning procedure. Studies focused on Candida spp. isolation are useful for better comprehension of the role of these yeasts on the oral flora from patients with cerebral palsy, Down's syndrome and metal retardation.

Comparison of microbiological assay and HPLC-UV for determination of fluconazole in capsules / Comparação de ensaios microbiológicos e CLAE-UV para determinação de fluconazol em cápsulas

The development of a specific agar diffusion bioassay for the quantitative determination of fluconazole formulated in capsules was carried out using a strain of Candida albicans ATCC 18804 as the test organism. A prospective validation of the method showed adequate linearity (r²=0.9995), precision (R.S.D. = 4.0 percent for intra-day and 4.5 percent for inter-day precision) and accuracy (mean recovery = 102.9 percent). High performance liquid chromatography was chosen as a comparison method for the fluconazole determination. The contents of fluconazole determined by both methods, for four capsule samples, showed a strong correlation, confirmed by Pearson's correlation coefficient value (r = 0.9884). The bioassay is a suitable method for both research and pharmaceutical industry laboratories.

Este trabalho visou ao desenvolvimento e validação de um método microbiológico por difusão em ágar para quantificação de fluconazol em cápsulas utilizando o isolado Candida albicans ATCC 18804 como reagente biológico. O método foi validado e foi verificada linearidade (r²=0,9995), precisão (D.P.R. = 4.0 por cento para precisão intra-dia e 4,5 por cento para precisão inter-dia) e exatidão (recuperação média = 102,9 por cento). Concomitantemente, foi realizado o doseamento de fluconazol nas cápsulas por meio de cromatografia líquida de alta eficiência. Os teores encontrados por ambos os métodos demonstraram alta correlação, confirmada pelo Coeficiente de Correlação de Pearson (r = 0,9884). O ensaio microbiológico desenvolvido pode ser considerado ferramenta valiosa tanto para a pesquisa científica quanto para a rotina da indústria farmacêutica.