HIV-producing T cells in cerebrospinal fluid.
In HIV-1-infected subjects, the magnitude of HIV-1 viral load in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) correlates with the CSF white cell count. To determine whether HIV-1-producing T cells appear in CSF and whether their percentage and number correlate with viral load in CSF, we developed a flow cytometric assay that detects HIV-1-producing T cells by identifying intracellular p24 HIV-1 antigen. We found that most CSF T cells were not HIV-1 producing, even when cell-free viral load in CSF was high. Most activated T cells in CSF were also not HIV-1 producing, but the activated CD38+ CD4 T-cell fraction in CSF was independently associated with the fraction of HIV-1-producing T cells in CSF. We conclude that HIV-1-producing T cells appear in CSF and that their percentage and number correlate with cell-free viral load in CSF, even though the CSF total white cell count remains the best predictor for CSF viral load. In HIV-1 infection, CSF white cell counts seem to contain a large number of uninfected cells. White cell counts and viral load in CSF may result from systemic inflammation and immune activation.
Neuenburg
Jutta K
JK
Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Sinclair
Elizabeth
E
Nilsson
Annelie
A
Kreis
Christophe
C
Bacchetti
Peter
P
Price
Richard W
RW
Grant
Robert M
RM
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D008297:Male; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology*; D019562:Viral Load; D014779:Virus Replication
D012367:RNA, Viral