Candida Carriers among Individuals with Tongue Piercing-A Real-Time PCR Study

• Main Authors: Georgi Tomov (Author), Nikola Stamenov (Author), Deyan Neychev (Author), Kiril Atliev (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: MDPI AG, 2022-05-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.
• Notes: 10.3390/antibiotics11060742; 2079-6382
• Keywords: tongue piercing; <i>Candida</i> spp.; RT-PCR; Therapeutics. Pharmacology; RM1-950
• Source: Antibiotics, Vol 11, Iss 6, p 742 (2022)

Among the local factors for oral candidiasis, the piercing of the tongue is recognized by some authors as a risk factor for the colonization of <i>Candida albicans</i>. There are few case reports in which <i>Candida</i> spp. colonization and infection are associated with tongue piercing but only one microbiological study supports this hypothesis in general. The aim of this study was to examine this possible association between the presence of both tongue piercing and <i>Candida</i> spp. in healthy individuals. Positive results for tongue colonization with <i>Candida</i> spp. were found in four (12.9%) of the tongue-pierced subjects and in three (9.67%) subjects of the control group (<i>p</i> = 0.550). All samples were identified as <i>Candida albicans</i>. The univariate and logistic regression analyses of possible risk factors for tongue colonization revealed that gender (<i>p</i> = 0.024), smoking more than 10 cigarettes per day (<i>p</i> = 0.021), and improper hygiene (<i>p</i> = 0.028) were statistically significant influencing factors in the multivariate analysis. The results suggest that the piercing of the tongue is not a risk factor for colonization of <i>Candida</i> spp.