{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,30]],"date-time":"2025-07-30T15:49:57Z","timestamp":1753890597811,"version":"3.41.2"},"reference-count":51,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,9]],"date-time":"2025-05-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1746748800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Background<\/jats:title><jats:p>Oral health is increasingly recognized as a crucial determinant of overall health in people living with HIV\/AIDS (PLWHA). Specifically, the oral mycobiome may play a pivotal role in HIV-associated oral complications. However, the fungal species involved and their potential as biomarkers for HIV-related oral conditions remain poorly understood. This study investigates salivary fungal profiles in PLWHA who have sex with men (MSM), focusing on diversity, functional shifts, and correlations with disease progression.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>A cross-sectional study included 25 MSM participants divided into five groups: HIV-negative controls (n = 5) and four HIV-positive groups stratified by CD4 count: Stage 0 (HIV RNA-positive\/antibody-negative; n = 5), Stage 1 (CD4 \u2265500 cells\/\u03bcL; n = 5), Stage 2 (CD4 200\u2013499 cells\/\u03bcL; n = 5), and Stage 3 (CD4 &amp;lt;200 cells\/\u03bcL or opportunistic infections; n = 5). Saliva samples were collected and analyzed using metagenomic sequencing (Illumina NovaSeq platform). Bioinformatic analyses included genome assembly (MEGAHIT), gene clustering (CD-HIT), gene abundance calculation (SOAPaligner), species annotation (BLASTP), and KEGG pathway annotation (KOBAS 2.0). Statistical analyses (Kruskal-Wallis tests, Spearman\u2019s correlation) assessed associations between fungal profiles, CD4 count, and viral loads.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>A total of 51 fungal genera were identified, with <jats:italic>Pseudogymnoascus<\/jats:italic> being the most abundant. Functional analysis revealed 113 shared KEGG pathways, of which 69 were unique to Stage 3, primarily related to metabolic and disease-related processes. Notably, <jats:italic>Auricularia<\/jats:italic> exhibited a positive correlation with CD4 count (<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic> \u2264 0.01), while <jats:italic>Mucor<\/jats:italic> showed a negative correlation (<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic> = 0.0299).<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title><jats:p>Salivary mycobiome composition and function shift significantly across HIV stages, reflecting immune decline. <jats:italic>Pseudogymnoascus<\/jats:italic> dominance challenges conventional views of oral fungal ecology in immunocompromised hosts. These findings highlight the mycobiome\u2019s diagnostic potential for monitoring HIV-related oral health. Longitudinal studies are needed to validate clinical relevance.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fcimb.2025.1564891","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,9]],"date-time":"2025-05-09T05:35:35Z","timestamp":1746768935000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Salivary mycobiome alterations in HIV-infected MSM: dominance of Pseudogymnoascus and functional shifts across disease stages"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Ying","family":"Guo","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lu","family":"Lin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Miao","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yixi","family":"Yu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yan","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jie","family":"Cao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yuchen","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Xintong","family":"Sun","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Meilin","family":"Guan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Shuo","family":"Wen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Xin","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Zhen","family":"Fang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Wenshan","family":"Duan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Junyi","family":"Duan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Tao","family":"Huang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Wei","family":"Xia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Shan","family":"Guo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Feili","family":"Wei","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Dongxiang","family":"Zheng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Xiaojie","family":"Huang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e00798","DOI":"10.1128\/mSphere.00798-19","article-title":"Oral and gut microbial diversity and immune regulation in patients with HIV on antiretroviral therapy","volume":"5","author":"Annavajhala","year":"2020","journal-title":"mSphere"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3390\/jof8070737","article-title":"New-generation sequencing technology in diagnosis of fungal plant pathogens: A dream comes true","volume":"8","author":"Aragona","year":"2022","journal-title":"J Fungi (Basel)"},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"539","DOI":"10.1007\/s13225-021-00472-y","article-title":"High-throughput sequencing view on the magnitude of global fungal diversity","volume":"114","author":"Baldrian","year":"2021","journal-title":"Fungal Diversity"},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"148","DOI":"10.1111\/prd.12273","article-title":"Viral, bacterial, and fungal infections of the oral mucosa: Types, incidence, predisposing factors, diagnostic algorithms, and management","volume":"80","author":"Bandara","year":"2019","journal-title":"Periodontol"},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3390\/antibiotics9060312","article-title":"Candidiasis and mechanisms of antifungal resistance","volume":"9","author":"Bhattacharya","year":"2020","journal-title":"Antibiot (Basel)"},{"key":"B6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"278","DOI":"10.7589\/2019-04-106","article-title":"Long-term survival of pseudogymnoascus destructans at elevated temperatures","volume":"56","author":"Campbell","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. 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