Lesions in the mouth were among the first documented features of HIV infection. There have been few well-designed studies of the oral manifestations of HIV among women. At the University of California, San Francisco Oral AIDS Center (OAC), we have examined hundreds of HIV patients and study participants, mostly gay or bisexual men. The OAC has, during the last six years, developed a good understanding as to which oral lesions are associated with HIV infection and their prognostic significance for the development of AIDS among men. We will now more precisely determine where oral lesions fit in the overall pattern of disease progression in women. More specifically we will: 1) Determine the relationship between oral lesions and HIV infection, and the association between oral lesions and the degree of immune suppression; 2) Determine the prognostic significance of oral lesions for the development of AIDS and survival; 3) Determine whether certain behaviors and treatments increase or decrease the likelihood of developing specific lesions; and 4) Determine the differences in the occurrence and prognostic significance of oral lesions among women and male historical cases. This research will build upon our extensive experience in the characterization of oral lesions, the assessment of oral findings in the context of disease progression, and the statistical analyses of these findings.
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