In 40 patients with oral candiasis, we studied on the pathogenic factors, diseased sites, salivary flow rate, white blood cell functions, and effects of mouth washing with amphotericin B solution. Subjects were devided into two groups by different pathogenic causes, i.e. poor oral hygiene subjects (Group I), and patients with a malignant neoplasia or autoimmune disease (Group II). Group I was predominant and composed 60 % of the tatal subjects. Concerned the site of candidiasis, tongue was most popular, and buccal and palatal mucosa followed in this order. Rather more than half of the subjects, many of them were of Group II, had multiple foci of the lesion. Salivation of both groups was initially lowered significantly when compared with healthy controls. Salivary flow rate of Group I did not completely recover, while the otehr group's salivation elevated to the control level after curing. In white blood cell functions, original NK and LAK activities of Group II (26. 4±13.5 % and 54.3±1.8 %, respectively) were significantly lower than those of controls (NK activity: 43.2±10.5 %, LAK activity: 73.8 ±6.5 %), but Group I was not affected in both activities. Neutrophil phagocytosis was not impaired, but O2- generation was inhibited in many subjects, and the mean O2- generation level of each group (Group I: 88.8±1.74, Group II: 56.5±31.2) was clearly inferior to the control level (110.0±24.3 pmol/min/104 cells). Among these suppressed function, NK activity and neutrophil O2-generation almost completely recovered in response to the disapperance of oral candidiasis. From the results, hyposalivation seemed to be one of the causes of oral candidiasis, and it seemed likely that a suppressive neutrophil killing activity might play an important role in the pathogeneses of the disease. Lowered NK and LAK activities were however not considiered to be of direct causative factors but to be of incidental events in oral candidiasis, even though Group II showed impaired lymphocyte killing.
Oral rinse with 2 % amphotericin B solution was sufficiently effective in all patients, and oral lesions generally disappeared in 2 to 3 weeks. Treatment was often prolonged in Group II cases having multiple oral foci.
