Virulence factors and genetic variability of vaginal Candida albicans isolates from HIV-infected women in the post-highly active antiretroviral era

• Published in: Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo
• Main Authors: Pâmela Cristina Mastellaro Delvas Zanni, Patrícia de Souza Bonfim-Mendonça, Melyssa Negri, Sandra Sayuri Nakamura, Lucélia Donatti, Terezinha Inez Estivalet Svidzinski, Márcia Edilaine Lopes Consolaro
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Universidade de São Paulo (USP)
• Subjects: Vulvovaginal candidiasis; Candida albicans; HIV; Virulence; Genetic variability; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Infectious and parasitic diseases; RC109-216; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1590/s1678-9946201759044; https://doaj.org/article/c314b76016b34fd3a96542158179e1b7

ABSTRACT Vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) in HIV-infected (HIV+) women is a serious public health problem. However, little is known about the virulence mechanisms of vaginal Candida albicans from HIV+ women in the post-highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) era. Here, we report a comparative analysis of the expression of key virulence factors and genetic variability of 26 vaginal C. albicans strains isolated from HIV+ women undergoing HAART and 18 from HIV-uninfected (HIV-) women. In general, we observed that C. albicans from HIV+ women receiving HAART showed lower expression of virulence factors compared with C. albicans from HIV- women, except for the proteinase activity which is highly expressed. The results in HIV-women further suggest that virulence factors appear to be expressed in response to the yeast stress, in the presence of an adequate immune response. Furthermore, the RAPD results showed a high heterogeneity among isolates from both groups of women. These findings in HIV+ women using HAART will help to improve the monitoring of vaginal yeast infections and the quality of life of patients.