HPV type infection in different anogenital sites among HIV-positive Brazilian women

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Increased serum and salivary immunoglobulins against Candida albicans in HIV-infected patients with oral candidiasis

The aim of this study was to explore anti-Candida albicans systemic and mucosal humoral responses against Candida virulence antigens such as somatic antigen and secreted aspartic proteases (Saps) in HIV-infected patients with oral candidiasis. Twenty-eight subjects were included in the study: 11 HIV-positive patients without oral candidiasis (group A), 6 HIV-positive patients with oral candidiasis (group B) and 11 HIV-negative healthy controls (group C). Total IgA, IgG and IgM concentrations and antibodies to C. albicans (somatic antigen, Sap1, Sap6) were measured in serum and saliva. We developed a time-resolved immunofluorometric assay with biotin and europium-labeled streptavidin for this purpose. Salivary total IgA, IgG and IgM concentrations were higher in group B. IgA, IgG and IgM anti-C. albicans antibodies (against somatic antigen, Sap1, Sap6) were higher in saliva and serum from patients from group B compared with patients from group A and controls. Our results suggest that, in oral candidiasis, HIV-infected patients have a high mucosal response, specifically directed against C. albicans virulence antigens, such as somatic antigen, Sap1 and Sap6

Longitudinal study of anti-Candida albicans mucosal immunity against aspartic proteinases in HIV-infected patients

Oropharyngeal candidiasis (OPC), mainly caused by Candida albicans, is commonly observed in HIV-infected patients. Secreted aspartic proteinases (Saps) are virulent agents involved in adherence to the mucosal surface and in tissue invasion. The immune secretory response to these agents was investigated in 15 HIV-infected patients, during oral yeast colonization and episodes of oropharyngeal candidiasis (OPC), in a 1-year longitudinal study. We developed an avidin-biotin-amplified immunofluorometric assay for the detection of specific immunoglobulins G, A, and M against somatic, Sap2 and Sap6 antigens. We report increases in anti-somatic, anti-Sap2, and anti-Sap6 salivary antibodies in patients with OPC. Over the 1-year period, not only OPC episodes but also variations in yeast colonization levels were correlated with variations in salivary anti-Sap6 antibody levels. Our results show the ability of HIV-infected patients to produce high levels of salivary antibodies; however, these antibodies were not efficient in limiting candidal infection, probably because of cellular cooperation deficiency and the enhanced virulence of the infecting strain

Fluconazole-resistant recurrent oral candidiasis in human immunodeficiency virus-positive patients: persistence of Candida albicans strains with the same genotype

Thirty human immunodeficiency virus-positive patients carrying Candida albicans in their oropharynx were treated with fluconazole and were monitored for 90 to 570 days. Fluconazole-resistant C. albicans (MIC, > 32 micrograms/ml) appeared only in seven patients and only after 90 days of treatment corresponding to a total dose of more than 10 g. Resistance was not associated with resistance to other azole derivatives. Susceptible and resistant strains from each patient had the same genotype (as defined by electrophoretic karyotype and restriction fragment length polymorphism). Thus, the resistant strains were selected by the antimycotic treatment from the susceptible strain present in each case

Evaluation of internal transcribed spacer region of ribosomal DNA sequence analysis for molecular characterization of Candida albicans and Candida dubliniensis isolates from HIV-infected patients

Molecular typing systems have been needed to study Candida colonization in HIV-infected patients, particularly for investigating virulence and fluconazole resistance. Three methods--electrophoretic karyotyping (EK), detection of restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLP) and randomly amplified polymorphic DNA analysis (RAPD)--have been most frequently used. In this study, comparative sequence analysis of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of rDNA was evaluated for delineation of Candida isolates from 14 HIV-infected patients. EK, ITS sequence analysis, RFLP and RAPD resulted in 11, 10, 9 and 8 DNA genotypes, respectively, from 39 Candida albicans isolates. The 10 genotypes observed using ITS sequence analysis were defined by six variation sites in the sequence. Molecular typing of sequential oral isolates showed the persistence of the same genotype of C. albicans in nine patients, and genotype variation in one patient. EK and RAPD showed that another patient was co-infected by two distinct genotypes and ITS analysis identified one of the two genotypes as Candida dubliniensis. Comparative ITS sequence analysis is a quick and reproducible method that provides clear and objective results, and it also identifies C. dubliniensis. The discriminatory power of this new typing approach could be improved by concomitant analysis of other DNA polymorphic sequences