[Serotypes of Candida albicans isolated from HIV positive patients.]

Twenty-one HIV-positive patients in different stages of the disease were studied to evaluate candidosis in the oral cavity. All patients in clinical category C were infected with Candida. The most frequently observed clinical forms were pseudomembranous and hypertrophic, in contrast to reports by other authors. Candida albicans was the species isolated in these HIV-positive patients. Alterations of cell-mediated immunity were reflected in the negativity of intradermal test. The predominant serotype of C. albicans in these patients was A, in agreement with what has been found in non-immunosuppressed patients in Venezuela. There was no correlation between the serotype of C. albicans and the clinical forms of candidosis. Based in our results and those of other authors, no conclusions can be drawn concerning a particular serotype as an indicator of immunosuppression.