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

• Autor(a) principal: Zanni, Pâmela Cristina Mastellaro Delvas
• Data de Publicação: 2017
• Outros Autores: Bonfim-Mendonça, Patrícia de Souza, Negri, Melyssa, Nakamura, Sandra Sayuri, Donatti, Lucélia, Svidzinski, Terezinha Inez Estivalet, Consolaro, Márcia Edilaine Lopes
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo
• Texto Completo: https://www.revistas.usp.br/rimtsp/article/view/140665
• topic: Vulvovaginal candidiasis.; Candida albicans; HIV; Virulence; Genetic variability

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.