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Immunohistochemical Evaluation of T Cells in Oral Lesions from Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Positive Persons with Oropharyngeal Candidiasis

ABSTRACT Oropharyngeal candidiasis (OPC), caused by Candida albicans, is the most frequent opportunistic fungal infection in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive persons. Although Th1-type CD4+ T cells are considered important for host defense against mucosal C. albicans infections, there is a paucity of information regarding the presence and/or role of T cells in OPC lesions. In pursuit of this, initial chromophore immunohistochemical studies showed a majority of CD8+ rather than CD4+ cells equally distributed throughout the buccal mucosa of OPC− persons (HIV− or HIV+), irrespective of blood CD4+ cell numbers. In contrast, CD8+ cells in lesions from HIV+ OPC+ persons were in significantly higher numbers and concentrated at the lamina propria-epithelium interface, a considerable distance from the Candida at the outer epithelium. Dual fluorescence and confocal microscopy confirmed that the majority of CD8+, but not CD4+, cells were T cells by the presence or absence, respectively, of CD3 on each cell type. These results suggest that CD8+ T cells may be important for oral host defense against OPC, especially when CD4 cell numbers are reduced, with a potential CD8 cell-specific dysfunction associated with susceptibility to OPC.