More than 700 bacterial species have been detected in the human oral cavity, of which 35% are, so far, uncultivable [14]. In healthy oral tissues, access to the epithelium is vigorously protected from non-commensal organisms, due in part to the physical and physiological barriers supplied by the microbiome Selleckchem BAY 63-2521 [15]. Microbial antigens such as lipopolysaccharide, flagellin, peptidoglycan, and fimbrae presumably

contribute to this process as well. These antigens differentially stimulate innate response mechanisms through pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) and thereby regulate the local physiological environment. In turn, the physiological constraints dictate the corresponding profile of organisms the epithelial surface can support [16, 17]. Although appreciation for the putative role that the microbiome can play in the initiation and/or enhancement of oral disease has grown considerably in recent years, little is known about the ARS-1620 chemical structure impact of HIV infection on host-microbe interactions within the oral cavity. In the present study we provide, to our knowledge, the first characterization of modulations in the dorsal tongue (lingual) microbiota that are associated with chronic HIV infection. Lingual bacterial species were identified in oral swab samples

utilizing the Human PX-478 purchase Oral Microbe Identification Microarray, or HOMIM (http://​mim.​forsyth.​org/​). Bacterial species profiles were compared between untreated Selleck Staurosporine chronically HIV infected patients, chronically HIV infected patients receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART), and healthy uninfected age matched controls. CD4+ T cell depletion and viral burden were measured

in peripheral blood by flow cytometry and Amplicor viral load assays, respectively. Our findings provide novel insights into the impact of HIV infection on host-microbe homeostasis within the lingual microbiome, and reveal a potential correlation between high viremia and colonization of several putative opportunistic pathogens in untreated patients. Results HIV infected patients and healthy controls harbor similar quantities of lingual bacteria To characterize alterations in the oral microbiome associated with chronic HIV infection and administration of antiretroviral therapy (ART), resident bacterial species profiles on the dorsal tongue epithelium were compared between 12 HIV infected patients (6 ART naïve, 6 receiving ART) and 9 healthy HIV-negative controls. The dorsal tongue surface was chosen for microbiome sampling because that anatomical site typically displays less sample to sample variation in microbial community structure compared to other oral niches, and because it is a common location for manifestation of HIV associated oral disease (e.g. candidiasis). One of the 6 HIV infected subjects on ART (#166) had a previous case of thrush, diagnosed 2–3 weeks prior to collection of the oral swab sample, but was not symptomatic or undergoing antibiotic treatment at the time of sample collection.