The Prevalence of Candida Species in Saliva of Asthmatic Patients Treated with Inhaled Corticosteroids: Comparison of Beclomethasone and Fluticasone

Statement of Problem: Candida is an opportunistic organism which will become pathogen if predisposing factors are present. One of the predisposing factors for increasing prevalence of candida is the use of corticosteroids. Researches on candida infections in treated patients with inhaled corticosteroids are controversial. The purpose of this study was evaluating the effect of two inhaler corticosteroids (Fluticasone and Beclomethasone) on the number and frequency of candida species in saliva and its comparison with normal subjects. This experimental research was performed on three groups of individuals. The first group was 30 asthmatic patients used inhaler Fluticasone, the second group with the same number of patients used inhaled Beclomethasone and the third group was composed of 60 normal individuals as control. Subjects were selected after evaluating the medical history and assurance of absence of the predisposing factors. Subjects’ saliva were gathered in sterilized tubes and cultured in chromagar media for evaluating the type of candida. The results were analyzed with oneway and tukey tests. Based on this study, the number of candida species was significantly different among the three groups. The number of candida species in patients used fluticusone was higher in comparison with the other two groups (p<0.001). This study showed that the number of candida species in patients treated with corticosteroids inhaler was high in comparison with the control group. Thus for avoiding candida infection, proper oral heath and prevention of predisposing factors in these patients are recommended.