title: Gag-specific cytotoxic responses to HIV type 1 are associated with a decreased risk of progression to AIDS-related complex or AIDS.
abstract: The duration of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) infection prior to the development of AIDS is variable, and for most patients the exact time of infection is not known. A group of 38 HIV-1-infected subjects was tested while asymptomatic for comparative cytotoxic lymphocyte responses to the Gag and envelope antigens of HIV-1. Twenty of the 38 patients had no detectable primary cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) response to Gag, and this was associated with a relative risk of 1.89 for progression to ARC or AIDS during the subsequent 3 to 40 months of observation when compared with patients who had Gag-specific CTL activity at the beginning of the observation period. In contrast, no significant association was observed between envelope-specific cytotoxic activity and disease progression. Other patient characteristics, including CD4+ T lymphocyte counts and antibody levels to the p24gag protein, measured at the start of observation, did not correlate with disease progression during the observation period. This suggests that the anti-Gag CTL response may be protective during HIV-1 infection.
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000209:etiology / Q000276:immunology*; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D003602:Cytotoxicity, Immunologic; D015683:Gene Products, gag / Q000276:immunology*; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D011379:Prognosis; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D015683:Gene Products, gag