Research Article Salivary Histatin 5 Level in Women with Vaginal Candidiasis ˙ Irem S ¸enyuva , 1 Cansu Koca , 2 Funda Karabag Çoban , 3 and ¨ Ozg¨ ur Tarhan 4 1 Usak Training and Research Hospital, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Usak, Turkey 2 University Faculty of Dentistry, Department of Maxillo Facial Surgery, Usak, Turkey 3 Usak University, Department of Molecular Biology, Usak, Turkey 4 Usak University, Faculty of Engineering, Department of Food Engineering, Usak, Turkey Correspondence should be addressed to ˙ Irem S ¸enyuva; iremsenyuva@yahoo.com Received 31 March 2022; Revised 6 June 2022; Accepted 7 June 2022; Published 27 June 2022 Academic Editor: Andrea Scribante Copyright © 2022 ˙ Irem S ¸enyuva et al. is is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Histatins (Hsts) are considered a prominent member of antimicrobial peptides rich in histidine, bearing antifungal activity against Candida species.Hst5isthemosteffectiveamongthem.AlthoughHst5isnotfoundinthecervicovaginalfluid,ithas been detected in the human serum. Saliva acts as a mirror, reflecting the cause and effect relationship between several diseases. We aimed to show the salivary Hst5 levels with vaginal candidiasis. Women in the reproductive age group (18–50 years) were enrolled in the study. Patients and controls were classified based on the presence or absence of vaginal discharge suggestive of candidiasis, respectively. Vaginal and salivary samples were collected from all the women. Vaginal samples were cultured for the growth of Candida species. Salivary samples were tested by protein electrophoresis to detect Hst5 levels,andtheresultswerecomparedbetweenthetwogroups.Atotalof80womenwereincludedinthisstudy.emeanage of women in vaginal candidiasis and control groups was 34.25 ± 8.06 and 36.83 ± 7.29 years, respectively. Candida species were isolated from the vaginal samples of the patient group (34 C. albicans, 6 non-Candida albicans) but not from the control group. Hst5 levels in the patient and control group were found to be 0.0571 ± 0.003ng/mL and 0.0641 ± 0,0031ng/ mL, respectively. Hst5 levels were found to be significantly lower in the vaginal candidiasis group (p � 0.001). We conclude that decreased salivary Hst5 levels in women are associated with vaginal candidiasis. Candida infection is a cause or result of lower salivary Hst5 levels, and it may be an important finding for the etiopathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment of the disease, but further analysis is needed. 1. Introduction Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have a broad spectrum of activity, and they act as the first line of defense in the human body and protect against pathogenic microorganisms [1]. Histatins (Hsts) are considered a prominent member of AMPs rich in histidine, bearing antifungal activity against Candida species. Moreover, they have immunomodulator and pro-wound healing effects [2]. Hsts are low molecular peptides found in saliva [3, 4]. Hsts consist of 12 peptides. Hsts 1, 3, and 5 have anti- candidal activity. Hst5 is the most effective, and it is gen- erated by proteolysis of Hst3 [5]. Hsts are coded by HIS1 and HIS2 genes on chromosome 4 with a sequence DSHAKRHHGYKRKFHEKHHSHRGY [4]. Amphipathic nature and cationic residues are associated with antifungal activity [4]. e antifungal effect of Hst5 is shown in a murine-vulvovaginal candidiasis model [6]. Candidiasis is a mucosal infection and aside from oral and systemic candidiasis, it is frequently seen in immuno- competent and healthy women [7]. Some factors like anti- biotics, diabetes, and immune deficiency can predispose to this infection [6]. C. albicans is the most common pathogen responsible for 90% of vaginal candidiasis, and the other non-albicans Candida (NAC) species are generally seen in about 50% of the cases [8]. Mucosal inflammation is gen- erally the first symptom, followed by vaginal itching and discomfort, as well as cheese-like vaginal discharge [7]. Several antifungal proteins have been found in the cervicovaginal fluid, but Hsts were not detected among Hindawi International Journal of Clinical Practice Volume 2022, Article ID 5279323, 6 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/5279323