Oral shedding of an oncogenic virus alters signatures of oral microbiome in HIV+ patients

Collectively, viruses are the principal cause of cancers arising in patients with immune dysfunction, including HIV+ patients. Kaposi's Sarcoma (KS) etiologically linked to KSHV continues to be the most common AIDS-associated tumor. The involvement of oral cavity represents one of the most common clinical manifestations of this tumor. HIV infection incurs an increased risk for periodontal diseases and oral carriage from a variety of pathogenic bacteria. In the current study, by using 16S rRNA based pyrosequencing, we found that oral shedding of KSHV altered oral microbiota signature in HIV+ patients which may contribute to virus-associated malignancies development. Overall design: We sequenced the hypervariable V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene present in saliva DNA from cohort of HIV+ patients by next generation sequencing at the Argonne National Laboratory.