H. Nikawa et al., THE ROLE OF SALIVA AND SERUM IN CANDIDA-ALBICANS BIOFILM FORMATION ONDENTURE ACRYLIC SURFACES, Microbial ecology in health and disease, 9(1), 1996, pp. 35-48
The long term effect of either a salivary or a serum pellicle on Candi
da albicans biofilm formation on denture acrylic surfaces was investig
ated both by quantifying the ATP (adenosine triphosphate) content of t
he resultant biofilms and by scanning electron microscopy. When the bi
ofilm formation on saliva-coated acrylic strips was examined, the yeas
ts initially colonised this surface at a slower rate than the controls
although with increasing incubation time, at 72 h, the ATP content wa
s almost ten-fold higher than the protein-free control strips. Ultrast
ructural studies revealed this to be due to cell aggregation and hypha
l emergence, phenomena not observed in the controls. As compared with
the control strips, biofilm activity of the serum-coated strips was al
most 100-fold greater within 48 h incubation, and scanning electron mi
croscopy revealed multilayer blastospore-blastospore co-adhesion, germ
tube, hyphal and pseudohyphal emergence and blastospore-hyphal coadhe
rence. Further immunocytochemical observation revealed that concanaval
in-A binding material and fibronectin were involved in biofilm formati
on on both saliva and serum coated specimens and, in addition, mannan-
binding protein and protein-A binding material also contributed to the
biofilm formation on serum coated specimens.