Human and simian immunodeficiency virus (HIV and SIV) infections are characterized by manifestation of numerous opportunistic infections and inflammatory conditions in the oral mucosa.The loss of CD4+ T cells that play a critical role in maintaining mucosal immunity likely contributes to this process.Here we show that CD4+ T cells constitute Crop Tee a minor population of T cells in the oral mucosa and display a predominantly central memory phenotype mirroring other mucosal sites such as the rectal mucosa.
Chronic SIV infection was associated with a near total depletion of CD4+ T cells in the oral mucosa that appear to repopulate during antiretroviral therapy (ART).Repopulating CD4+ T Construction cells harbored a large fraction of Th17 cells suggesting that ART potentially reconstitutes oral mucosal immunity.However, a minor fraction of repopulating CD4+ T cells harbored SIV DNA suggesting that the viral reservoir continues to persist in the oral mucosa during ART.
Therapeutic approaches aimed at obtaining sustainable CD4+ T cell repopulation in combination with strategies that can eradicate the latent viral reservoir in the oral mucosa are essential for better oral health and long-term outcome in HIV infected patients.