Some authors suggested that nucleoside analogues have an effect on phenotypic characteristics of C. albicans. Objective: was to determine a possible shift in genotype of oral isolates of Candida albicans before and after the commencement of antiretroviral therapy. METHODS: Sequential C. albicans oral isolates obtained during surveillance swabbing of HIV/AIDS patients were fingerprinted, using Southern Blot and labeling with the complex Ca3 probe. The fingerprinting patters obtained from isolates before and at least 6 months after patients commenced antiretroviral therapy were compared. Results: Of 14 pairs of isolates, 6(42.9%) remained identical, 3(21.4%) pairs revealed a replacement of the original genotype with an unrelated genotype while in the remaining 5 (35.7%) pairs there were micro-evolutionary changes, with 3 of the latter isolates revealing a loss in the highest molecular weight bands. All of the 5 isolates acquired one or two additional bands elsewhere in the fingerprinting pattern but not limited to the hypervariable high molecular weight region. Changes did not follow a consistent pattern and are in line with the previously described prevalence of microevolution or succession in C. albicans in adult populations elsewhere. Conclusion: No definite effect of antiretroviral therapy on the genotype of oral C. albicans isolates could be detected. |