Int Conf AIDS. 1989 Jun 4-9;5:491 (abstract no. B.564). Unique

Oral health status deteriorates drastically in AIDS patients. The present studies aim at correlating incidences of the presence of HIV in peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL), gingiva and salivary lymphocytes (SL) with incidences of oral disease. HIV was searched for in PBL, gingiva and SL obtained from 96 patients at different stages of HIV infection by means of immunofluorescence (IF), post-embedding immunogold electron microscopy (IEM) and culturing techniques. Quantity of HIV positive cells were compared with the incidences and the evolution of oral diseases assessed by-monthly over a period of two years. HIV particles and/or antigens were found in PBL, gingival epithelial cells and endothelial cells, lymphocytes infiltrated in gingiva, as well as in SL. The incidence and the percentage of HIV-containing cells found in gingiva and saliva was significantly higher than in PBL. Incidences of a variety of oral disease can be positively correlated with the number of infected cells in gingiva and saliva. These findings suggest that: Virus-positive PBL in gingiva receive antigenic and/or nitogenic stimulation by the oral flora resulting in the greater expansion of the virus. This contention is supported by our current studies in vitro of stimulation of production of HIV by oral micro-organs. The presence of HIV in gingiva may be associated with the elimination of the local CD4+ T-cell mediated immunologic barrier associated with a high incidence and severity of a variety of oral disease observed.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/*COMPLICATIONS Cells, Cultured CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes/IMMUNOLOGY/ULTRASTRUCTURE Fluorescent Antibody Technique Gingivitis/*COMPLICATIONS Health Status Human HIV Antigens/ANALYSIS Incidence Saliva/*MICROBIOLOGY ABSTRACT