title: Loss of blood CD11c(+) myeloid and CD11c(-) plasmacytoid dendritic cells in patients with HIV-1 infection correlates with HIV-1 RNA virus load.
abstract: Human blood contains at least 2 subpopulations of antigen-presenting dendritic cells (DCs) that can be differentiated by their expression of CD11c. Myeloid DCs (myDCs), which are CD11c(+), trap invading pathogens in the tissues and then migrate to lymphoid tissues where they stimulate pathogen-specific T-cell responses. Plasmacytoid DCs (pcDCs), which are CD11c(-), secrete interferon-alpha in response to viral infections. This study reports that in HIV-1 infection there is a progressive depletion of both these DC populations and that this correlates with an increasing HIV-1 plasma virus load. The median numbers of myDCs and pcDCs were 6978/mL and 9299/mL, respectively, in healthy male controls and 2298/mL and 1640/mL, respectively, in patients with more than 10(5) HIV-1 RNA copies/mL. Both DC populations expressed CD4, CCR5, and CXCR4. The findings suggest that loss of DCs in HIV infection may contribute to disease progression.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Imperial College School of Medicine, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Donaghy
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pozniak
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gazzard
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Qazi
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gilmour
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gotch
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Patterson
mesh_terms: D015704:CD4 Antigens / Q000032:analysis*; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D018450:Disease Progression; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D016167:Integrin alphaXbeta2 / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D019713:Receptors, CCR5 / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D019718:Receptors, CXCR4 / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D019562:Viral Load
chemical_list: D015704:CD4 Antigens; D016167:Integrin alphaXbeta2; D012367:RNA, Viral; D019713:Receptors, CCR5; D019718:Receptors, CXCR4