Comparative study of antibodies that are associated with disease progression in HIV disease.
Two types of antibodies which previously were found to be inversely associated with CD4+ cell counts and which may contribute to the progression of HIV disease were measured in parallel in 55 serum samples of 7 longitudinally tested HIV-infected patients (4 homosexual men, 3 haemophilic men) and in 15 serum samples from 15 patients with advanced AIDS. HIV-infection enhancing antibodies were determined in the presence of near-physiologic human complement concentration using a complement receptor type 2 (CR2) carrying HIV-target cell line. IgG and IgA class autoantibodies directed against human IgG-Fab fragments were measured in specific ELISA assays. In agreement with our previous studies obtained in HIV-seropositive haemophilic patients, significant negative correlations were found between CD4+ cell counts and IgG anti-Fab and IgA anti-Fab antibodies (Spearman correlation coefficient r = -0.587, P < 0.0001; and r = -0.269, P = 0.024, respectively). A significant positive correlation was observed between complement-dependent enhancing antibodies and IgA anti-Fab antibodies (r = 0.408, P = 0.003), whereas the correlation with IgG anti-Fab antibodies was only weak (r = 0.288, P = 0.034). Serum samples with high titres of complement-dependent enhancing antibodies had almost 3 times higher IgA anti-Fab autoantibody activity than sera with low titres (P = 0.0038). Our findings indicate that the two disease markers in HIV disease, enhancing antibodies and autoantibodies directed against the Fab moiety of IgG, are not identical. However, anti-Fab antibodies may contribute to complement-dependent HIV infection enhancement.
Institute of Microbiology, University Medical School, Debrecen, Hungary.
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FD
Tóth
C
C
Süsal
E
E
Ujhelyi
D
D
Bánhegyi
J
J
Kiss
V
V
Daniel
I
I
Nagy
G
G
Opelz
G
G
Füst
D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000276:immunology*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000276:immunology*; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D003165:Complement System Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D018450:Disease Progression; D015483:HIV Antibodies / Q000276:immunology*; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007070:Immunoglobulin A / Q000032:analysis; D007140:Immunoglobulin Fab Fragments / Q000276:immunology*; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000032:analysis; D008297:Male
D001323:Autoantibodies; D015483:HIV Antibodies; D007070:Immunoglobulin A; D007140:Immunoglobulin Fab Fragments; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D003165:Complement System Proteins