Abstract
BackgroundThis study seeks to understand better the mechanisms underlying the increased risk of caries in HIV-infected school-aged Nigerian children by examining the relationship between the plaque microbiome and perinatal HIV infection and exposure. We also seek to investigate how perinatal HIV infection and exposure impact tooth-specific microbiomes' role on caries disease progression.MethodsThe participants in this study were children aged 4 to 11 years recruited from the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), Nigeria, between May to November 2019. Overall, 568 children were enrolled in three groups: 189 HIV-infected (HI), 189 HIV-exposed but uninfected (HEU) and 190 HIV-unexposed and uninfected (HUU) as controls at visit 1 with a 2.99% and 4.90% attrition rate at visit 2 and visit 3 respectively. Data were obtained with standardized questionnaires. Blood samples were collected for HIV, HBV and HCV screening; CD4, CD8 and full blood count analysis; and plasma samples stored for future investigations; oral samples including saliva, buccal swabs, oropharyngeal swab, tongue swab, dental plaque were collected aseptically from participants at different study visits.ConclusionsResults from the study will provide critical information on how HIV exposure, infection, and treatment, influence the oral microbiome and caries susceptibility in children. By determining the effect on community taxonomic structure and gene expression of dental microbiomes, we will elucidate mechanisms that potentially create a predisposition for developing dental caries. As future plans, the relationship between respiratory tract infections, immune and inflammatory markers with dental caries in perinatal HIV infection and exposure will be investigated.
Highlights
This study seeks to understand better the mechanisms underlying the increased risk of caries in HIVinfected school-aged Nigerian children by examining the relationship between the plaque microbiome and perinatal Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection and exposure
By determining the effect on community taxonomic structure and gene expression of dental microbiomes, we will elucidate mechanisms that potentially create a predisposition for developing dental caries
*Correspondence: dupe.coker@rutgers.edu 1 Department of Oral Biology, Rutgers School of Dental Medicine, Rutgers University, 110 Bergen Street, Room C‐845, Newark, NJ 07103, USA Full list of author information is available at the end of the article differences in the bacterial communities comparing lingual and salivary samples in HIV infected (HI) children with uninfected individuals, other studies have observed no significant differences between HI and uninfected children [11,12,13, 15, 18,19,20,21,22]
Summary
This study seeks to understand better the mechanisms underlying the increased risk of caries in HIVinfected school-aged Nigerian children by examining the relationship between the plaque microbiome and perinatal HIV infection and exposure. Increased availability and widespread use of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has led to a significant decrease in the number of children infected with perinatally acquired HIV. Many of these HIVexposed-but-uninfected children are believed to have increased chances of developing early-life infections and increased immune system impairment. With a growing population of HIV exposed but uninfected (HEU) children in sub-Saharan Africa, studies [24,25,26,27,28] have shown an increased risk of early-life infections and mortality, impaired growth as well as a higher ( not significant) risk of dental caries, suggesting perinatal HIV exposure is associated with an immature immune response. Previous findings from this population observed that HEU children, like HI children, had lower CD4 values than their unexposed counterparts [25]
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