HIV-Positive Patients on Antiretroviral Therapy Have an Altered Mucosal Intestinal but Not Oral Microbiome
Jingjing Meng, Junyi Tao, Yaa Abu, Daniel A. Sussman, Mohit Girotra, Dido Franceschi, Sabita Roy
Abstract
Over 37 million people worldwide are living with HIV. Although the availability of antiretroviral therapy has significantly reduced the number of AIDS-related deaths, individuals living with HIV are at increased risk for opportunistic infections. We now know that HIV interacts with the trillions of bacteria, fungi, and viruses in the human body termed the microbiome. Only a limited number of previous studies have compared variations in the oral and gastrointestinal microbiome with HIV infection. Here, we detail how the oral and gastrointestinal microbiome changes with HIV infection, having used 5 different sampling sites to gain a more comprehensive view of these changes by location. Our results show site-specific changes in the intestinal microbiome associated with HIV infection. Additionally, we show that while there were significant changes in the intestinal microbiome, there were no significant changes in the oral microbiome.