Oral and systemic health correlates of HIV-1 shedding in saliva

The relationship among oral and systemic health and hiv shedding in saliva is not well-understood. we hypothesized that oral and systemic health are associated with hiv shedding in saliva of hiv-infected women. saliva from 127 participants enrolled in the women's interagency hiv study (wihs) was collected at repeated visits over a 51/2-year study period (october 1998 through march 2004) and was evaluated for hiv-1 rna. demographic,lifestyle,and systemic and oral health characteristics were evaluated as possible correlates of salivary hiv-1 shedding. multivariate models showed significantly increased risk of hiv-1 shedding in saliva as blood levels of cd4 cell counts decreased (p < 0.0001) and hiv rna increased (p < 0.0001). diabetes (p = 0.002) and a high proportion of gingival bleeding sites (p = 0.01) were associated with increased likelihood,while anti-retroviral therapy (p = 0.0003) and higher levels of stimulated saliva flow rates (p = 0.02) were associated with a lower likelihood of hiv-1 rna shedding in saliva. © 2010 international & american associations for dental research.