The oral component of the Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS) was initiated to fill a critical gap in our understanding of the oral manifestations of HIV disease in women, particularly as they relate to hormonal status and correlate with genital manifestations. This well characterized cohort represents a unique resource for conducting oral health research as new paradigms for HIV infection, disease progression, and treatment emerge. Branch staff continue to provide leadership for the conduct of the oral component and development of data analysis plans. Unique aspects of the proposed WIHS oral substudy analyses include the ability to report HIV-related oral outcomes in relation to plasma viral lead and to assess their prognostic significance in relation to these state of the art virologic RNA assays.
