title: Lack of T cell dysfunction and programmed cell death in human immunodeficiency virus type 1-infected chimpanzees correlates with absence of monocytotropic variants.
abstract: In asymptomatic human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in humans, disturbed T cell functions such as anergy and programmed cell death, thought to result from inappropriate signaling by antigen-presenting cells due to HIV infection, precede increase in virus load, decline in CD4+ T cell numbers, and subsequent disease progression. Here, in 3 long-term HIV-1-infected asymptomatic chimpanzees, antigen-presenting cell function was intact and T cells had normal proliferative capacity with no evidence of HIV-1-associated programmed cell death. Polymerase chain reaction analysis demonstrated low frequencies of cells harboring proviral DNA. Primary virus isolation from the infected animals demonstrated the absence of monocytotropic HIV-1 variants, in concordance with complete insusceptibility of chimpanzee monocytes for HIV-1 infection. Possibly, because of the incapacity of HIV-1 to infect monocytes, systemic immune dysfunction will not occur, contributing to controlled viral replication and maintenance of the asymptomatic state in HIV-infected chimpanzees.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Viro-Immunology, Central Laboratory of The Netherlands Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service, Amsterdam.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schuitemaker
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Meyaard
authors.forename: N A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Kootstra
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dubbes
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Otto
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tersmette
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Heeney
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Miedema
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000938:Antigen-Presenting Cells / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology; D017209:Apoptosis; D001483:Base Sequence; D015704:CD4 Antigens / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D014644:Genetic Variation; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000382:microbiology; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D002679:Pan troglodytes; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D015704:CD4 Antigens