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Taste Disorders in Healthy “Carriers” and “Non‐Carriers” of Candida albicans and in Patients with Candidosis of the Tongue
Author(s) -
Sakashita Sayuri,
Takayama Kaoru,
Nishioka Kiyoshi,
Katoh Takuro
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
the journal of dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.9
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1346-8138
pISSN - 0385-2407
DOI - 10.1111/j.1346-8138.2004.tb00622.x
Subject(s) - tongue , taste , candida albicans , corpus albicans , taste disorder , medicine , dermatology , microbiology and biotechnology , pathology , antifungal , food science , chemistry , biology
Impairments in taste perception may be caused by a number of factors, including the presence of Candida albicans in the oral cavity. We attempted to establish whether the presence of Candida albicans on the tongue is a cause of taste disorders by studying taste disorders in patients with candidosis of the tongue and in healthy “carriers” and “non‐carriers” of C. albicans. Taste disorders and their severity were objectively assessed by the filter‐paper disk method in 18 patients with candidosis of the tongue and in 33 healthy “carriers” and 167 healthy “non‐carriers” of C. albicans. The gustatory function was re‐tested in 7 patients and 8 “carriers” after treatment with topical anti‐mycotic medication to detect any improvement. Patients with candidosis of the tongue and “carriers” of C. albicans demonstrated significantly higher incidences (p<0.001) of taste disorders than did “non‐carriers”. The mean taste threshold of each of the four individual taste qualities was significantly higher in patients with candidosis than in “non‐carriers”. The average taste threshold was significantly higher in “carriers” than in “non‐carriers”. Post‐treatment improvement or recovery from taste disorders was obtained in 5 out of 7 patients (71.4%) with candidosis and in 7 out of 8 “carriers” (87.5%) of C. albicans. This study clearly demonstrates that not only overt candidosis of the tongue but also commensal harboring of *** C. albicans is a cause of taste disorders.