Concomitant augmentation of CD4+ CD29+ helper inducer and diminution of CD4+ CD45RA+ suppressor inducer subset in patients infected with human T cell lymphotropic virus types I or II.
To examine the immunomodulatory effects of HTLV infection, lymphocyte subset analysis was performed on patients infected with human T cell lymphotropic virus type-I (HTLV-I, n = 6) or -II (HTLV-II, n = 12) and on normal blood donors (n = 16). The percentages of total B lymphocytes (CD19), natural killer (NK) cells (CD16), T lymphocytes and their subsets (CD2, CD3, CD4, CD5, CD7, CD8), and IL-2R (CD25) were found to be within the range found in normal donors. However, the expression of CD8+ HLA-DR+ increased significantly in patients with HTLV-I or HTLV-II infection (14.1 +/- 3.9% and 9.7 +/- 2.4% respectively; P less than 0.01) when compared with controls (3.2 +/- 1.1%). In addition, there was a significantly greater proportion of CD4+CD29+ T lymphocytes (29.3 +/- 6.1% and 31.1 +/- 9.0%; P less than 0.05) with concomitant diminution of CD4+CD45RA+ T lymphocytes (8.3 +/- 3.3% and 11.4 +/- 1.5%; P less than 0.01) in patients infected with HTLV-I or HTLV-II respectively, when compared with controls. The increased percentage of CD4+CD29+ subpopulations showed a direct correlation (rs = 0.86; P less than 0.001) with HTLV-specific antibody production. No difference in the CD8 population coexpressing CD29 and S6F1 (an epitope of LFA-1) were observed in the HTLV-infected group when compared with normal donors and functional analysis exhibited minimal cytotoxicity against lectin labelled heterologous target cells. Thus, the shift in the suppressor/cytotoxic to helper/inducer 'memory' CD4+ may be associated with immunoregulatory abnormalities often found in persons infected with HTLV-I or HTLV-II.
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Retrovirus Diseases Branch, Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, GA 30333.
Rudolph
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Schmid
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Lairmore
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MD
D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D003602:Cytotoxicity, Immunologic; D015480:Deltaretrovirus Antibodies / Q000096:biosynthesis; D015490:HTLV-I Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D015491:HTLV-II Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D006649:Histocompatibility Antigens / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D007111:Immunity, Cellular; D019012:Integrin beta1; D017493:Leukocyte Common Antigens; D016131:Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology*; D006377:T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer / Q000276:immunology*; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000276:immunology*
D015703:Antigens, CD; D015480:Deltaretrovirus Antibodies; D006649:Histocompatibility Antigens; D019012:Integrin beta1; D017493:Leukocyte Common Antigens