Alfredo Garzino-Demo

HIV Infection and Pathogenesis: What About Chemokines?

Several chemotactic cytokines, or chemokines, inhibit HIV replication by blocking or down regulating chemokine receptors that serve as entry cofactors for the virus. Although the role of chemokine receptors in HIV pathogenesis has been the subject of intense interest, chemokines are comparatively less seriously considered as potential correlates of protection from HIV infection and disease progression. However, a critical analysis of newly available data reveals substantial evidence to support a beneficial role for chemokines in HIV infection and disease. In this review we summarize the results of such studies and their promising implications for HIV infection.

Salivary histatin‐5 and oral fungal colonisation in HIV+ individuals

The oral cavity is a primary target for opportunistic infections, particularly oral candidiasis caused by the opportunistic pathogen Candida albicans. HIV+ individuals constitute a population highly susceptible to oral candidiasis possibly due to a change in the environment of the oral cavity as the result of salivary gland dysfuntion. Histatins are a family of salivary antimicrobial peptides which under normal circumstances have a protective function on the oral mucosa. This study aimed to compare salivary histatin concentrations and oral fungal colonisation in an HIV+ and HIV− control populations. Oral samples for fungal cultures and parotid saliva were collected from all subjects. Fungal identification was determined using standard mycological procedures. In order to determine salivary histatin levels a semi‐quantitative ELISA was designed using a specific polyclonal antibody and extensive statistical analysis was performed. Forty‐seven percent of HIV+ and 17% of control subjects had positive fungal cultures. Mean histatin levels were 7.32 μg ml−1 for the HIV+ group and 9.17 μg ml−1 for control group (P = 0.003). The data from this study demonstrate that the level of fungal colonisation is significantly higher in HIV+ individuals whereas histatin‐5 concentrations are significantly lower, likely contributing to the enhanced predisposition of this population to oral candidiasis.

Parallel dysregulation across psychoimmunological and cardiovascular response systems in HIV+ outpatients

of Human Virology Meeting abstracts. A s ingle PDF containing all abstracts in this Supplement is available here http://ww w.biomedcentral. com/content/pdf/ 1742-4690-3-S1-i nfo.pdf