Correlation of Oral Microbiota With Different Immune Responses to Antiretroviral Therapy in People Living With HIV

Abstract

Abstract Both HIV infection and antiretroviral therapy (ART) affect the oral microbiome. Whether successful treatment with ART in people living with HIV (PLWH), which leads to a significant decline in viral loads and immune reconstitution, is associated with changes in or recovery of the oral microbiome remains unknown. Therefore, we performed a cross-sectional study of 118 PLWH receiving regular ART and 40 healthy controls (HCs). Among the 118 PLWH, 18 immunological non-responders (INRs; <200 CD4+ T cells/μL) and 30 immunological responders (IRs; ≥500 CD4+ T cells/μL) were identified. The oral microbiota composition of all participants was analyzed using 16S rRNA gene sequencing of throat swab samples. Relative abundance of bacterial genera was compared between IRs and INRs, and Pearson correlations between bacterial abundance and peripheral blood immune cell counts were evaluated. The INR group showed lower alpha diversity than the IR and HC groups, which displayed similar alpha diversity. The genera Alloprevotella, Prevotella and Neisseria were more abundant in PLWH than in HC, whereas the genera Rothia, Streptococcus and Fusobacterium were more abundant in HC than in PLWH. The genus Rothia was more abundant in the INR group, whereas Prevotella, Alloprevotella, Porphyromonas and Haemophilus were more abundant in the IR group. The genera Rothia and Alloprevotella were negatively and positively associated with CD4+ T cell counts, respectively. Thus, an increased abundance of Rothia in the oral microbiome is associated with unfavorable outcomes regarding immune reconstitution in PLWH receiving regular ART, whereas Prevotella, Alloprevotella, Porphyromonas and Haemophilus are associated with favorable outcomes.