Purpose: To monitor oral candida infection and immune status of HIV/AIDS patients during the first year of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), and to explore the relationship between oral candida infection and immune status.
Methods: A total of 46 HIV/AIDS patients were followed up. At baseline, 3, 6 and 12 months after HAART, CD4+T lymphocytes were measured, oral examinations of patients were carried out and the occurrence of oral candidiasis was recorded. Oral rinses were collected, and Sabourd's dextrose agar and CHROMagar candida medium were used to culture and identify oral candida. Statistical analysis was performed by SPSS 25.0 software package.
Results: The counts of CD4+T lymphocytes in HIV/AIDS patients at 3, 6 and 12 months after HAART were (327.91±138.82), (329.65±142.66) and (319.98±97.90) cells/mm3, respectively, which were significantly higher than CD4+T lymphocytes(263.39±126.01) at baseline(P<0.05). The prevalence of oral candidiasis at 3, 6 and 12 months after HAART was 26.09%, 21.74% and 23.91%, respectively, which was significantly lower than that(52.17%) at baseline（P<0.05）. The prevalence of oral candidiasis in patients with CD4+T lymphocyte <200 cells/mm3 was significantly higher than that in patients with CD4+T lymphocyte ≥200 cells/mm3（P<0.05）.
Conclusions: HAART can increase CD4+T lymphocytes, reconstruct the immunity of patients and reduce the incidence of oral candidiasis, but the incidence of oral candidiasis significantly increased in patients with CD4+T lymphocyte <200 cells/mm3 .