Research on HIV/AIDS

"The Mouth as a Window of HIV Infection." A wide body of scientific research attests to the frequency of oral disease in persons living with HIV disease and AIDS. The presence of certain oral diseases can be an important tool for identifying persons living with HIV and assessing the relative progression of their disease. The CD4:CD8 ratio helps determine the risk of disease progression in HIV-infected patients on HAART (highly active antiretroviral therapy). Other laboratory markers such as B-2 microglobullin, neopterin levels and presence of P24 antigen indicate prognosis and survival time for infected patients. However, laboratory parameter will only partially reflect disease stage and progression, the additional of clinical marker will more accurately represent a patients overall disease status. This study was undertaken to assess the correlation between HIV-associated oral manifestations and CD4+, CD8+ cells count and CD4/CD8 ratio and the efficacy of oral changes as an indicator of disease status in HIV/AIDS.