A collaborative project between the Microbial Interactions Section and the Department of Anaerobic Bacteriology at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State College was initiated April 1990. The subgingival floras of 20 patients exhibiting frank AIDS and 20 HIV seropositive patients suffering from gingivitis are being enumerated and identified to determine whether: (1) any changes in the normal flora occur following the viral infection; and (2) the gingivitis is associated with a typical gram negative flora, respectively. Twelve subjects, six from each category, have been examined thus far. Qualitatively, the microbial flora appears to be much the same as that seen in HIV uninfected individuals, with slightly more Gram positive bacteria present. However, both the Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria present do not exhibit the same growth characteristics observed previously. In general, they are more difficult to cultivate and show abnormally long lag periods, or refuse to grow at all, when transferred from medium to medium. Internal controls reveal that this is a reproducible trait of oral bacteria from HIV-infected individuals.
