Candida albicans is a pathogenic yeast which resides as a commensal in the oral cavity of a majority of healthy individuals. However, under a number of predisposing conditions, C. albicans invades tissue causing infection. It has been assumed that commensal strains are the source of subsequent infection and that there is little strain specialization. However, these assumptions have recently been questioned by results which demonstrate that different strains are carried in different anatomical locations of the same healthy women, that strain replacement occurs in the oral cavity of AIDS patients and male partners of vaginitis patients, that each strain has a number of general phenotypes, regulated by a reversible, high frequency switching mechanism, which may be utilized under different environmental conditions, and that stains can rapidly evolve at the genetic level. We, therefore, will test the genetic relationship between commensal and infecting strains of the oral cavity of the same individual in the transition from a healthy state to denture stomatitis. For this study, we have developed a computer-assisted DNA fingerprinting system employing the moderately repetitive probe Ca3, and conditions for analyzing phenotype switching. In addition, we will compare commensal and infecting strains from the same individuals for a number of putative virulence traits. This study will answer at the generic level 1) whether phenotypic switching is involved in the transmission from commensalism to pathogenesis, and 4) whether commensal and infecting strains differ in phenotype.
| Smith, Elaine M; Swarnavel, Sandhya; Ritchie, Justine M et al. (2007) Prevalence of human papillomavirus in the oral cavity/oropharynx in a large population of children and adolescents. Pediatr Infect Dis J 26:836-40 |
| Qian, Fang; Levy, Steven M; Warren, John J et al. (2007) Incidence of periodontal attachment loss over 8 to 10 years among Iowa elders aged 71+ at baseline. J Public Health Dent 67:162-70 |
| Smith, Elaine M; Ritchie, Justine M; Summersgill, Kurt F et al. (2004) Age, sexual behavior and human papillomavirus infection in oral cavity and oropharyngeal cancers. Int J Cancer 108:766-72 |
| Darby Weydert, Christine J; Smith, Benjamin B; Xu, Linjing et al. (2003) Inhibition of oral cancer cell growth by adenovirusMnSOD plus BCNU treatment. Free Radic Biol Med 34:316-29 |
| Levy, Steven M; Warren, John J; Chowdhury, Jyoti et al. (2003) The prevalence of periodontal disease measures in elderly adults, aged 79 and older. Spec Care Dentist 23:50-7 |
| Marshall, Teresa A; Warren, John J; Hand, Jed S et al. (2002) Oral health, nutrient intake and dietary quality in the very old. J Am Dent Assoc 133:1369-79 |
| Warren, John Joseph; Watkins, Catherine Ann; Cowen, Howard Jeffry et al. (2002) Tooth loss in the very old: 13-15-year incidence among elderly Iowans. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol 30:29-37 |
| Yang, J; Lam, E W N; Hammad, H M et al. (2002) Antioxidant enzyme levels in oral squamous cell carcinoma and normal human oral epithelium. J Oral Pathol Med 31:71-7 |
| Miller Jr, Francis J; Sharp, William J; Fang, Xiang et al. (2002) Oxidative stress in human abdominal aortic aneurysms: a potential mediator of aneurysmal remodeling. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 22:560-5 |
| Marshall, T A; Stumbo, P J; Warren, J J et al. (2001) Inadequate nutrient intakes are common and are associated with low diet variety in rural, community-dwelling elderly. J Nutr 131:2192-6 |
Showing the most recent 10 out of 63 publications
