Oral Manifestation and Presence of Candida albicans in Multiple Sclerosis Disease with Different Treatment Modalities

Aims: Multiple sclerosis is a chronic demyelinating disease, which is considered an autoimmune disease impacting the central nervous system. Patients with MS may have certain orofacial manifestations and oral microbiological changes as a result of different treatment modalities. This study aimed to investigate the changes of Candida albicans in normal oral flora during different modalities of treatment and compare them with healthy individuals. Materials Methods: 120 Patients were volunteered and divided into four groups of 30 people: 1) patients with MS taking Natalizumab or Tysabri, 2) patients with MS taking Betaferon, 3) patients who were recently diagnosed with MS and were in a variety of progressive stages, 4) healthy individuals (control). The swap samples were taken from the participants, particularly from the oral cavity. PCR real-time program investigated the presence of Candida albicans. All patients were examined under standardized conditions by a single examiner, and the oral cavity was examined in an artificial light using a mouth mirror. Findings: Regarding the presence of Candida albicans, there was a significant difference between the naive MS patient group and healthy individuals (p=0.036). However, the difference between the Tysabri group and the healthy group was not significant (p 0.05), while in the Betaferon group, the presence of Candida albicans significantly increased (p=0.0001). Conclusion: Oral Candida albicans increase in naive MS patients compared to healthy individuals. This increase indicates that oral Candida albicans may involve in MS development. On the other hand, orofacial manifestations decrease in all MS treatment groups.