A comparison of three methods for detecting Candida albicans in patients with Sjogren's syndrome

Objective: An immediate chairside technique (Latex Candida) for the detection of Candida albicans was compared with a simple tube culturing technique (Oricult) and the traditional laboratory culturing technique in patients with Sjogren's syndrome. Method and materials: Subjects with primary (n = 9) and secondary (n = 9) Sjogren's syndrome (mean age of 56.7 years; all female) and an age- and sex-matched group of control subjects (n = 9) were selected. Three different methods for culturing Candida albicans were performed for each subject. one culturette was plated on a trypticase soy-agar streptomycin-vancomycin medium plate and incubated for 48 hours at 37 degrees C. Another swab was plated on a reagent paper with the Latex Candida test kit. The third swab was placed in a culture media tube using the Oricult kit and incubated for 48 hours at 37 degrees C. Results: All three techniques indicated a significant difference in the prevalence of Candida between the control gr oup and both Sjogren's groups. The Latex Candida technique indicated that 78% of all Sjogren's subjects were positive for Candida, while the other two tests indicated that 83% were positive. Conclusion: The Latex Candida technique was comparable to Oricult and streptomycin-vancomycin culturing techniques for negative results and was correctly positive for 90% of cases.