title: Higher frequency of HIV-1-specific T cell immune responses in African American children vertically infected with HIV-1.
abstract: The progression of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease and plasma levels of HIV may differ between racial groups. We compared HIV-specific T cell responses between vertically HIV-1-infected Hispanic and African American children. Subjects were matched for sex, age, viral load, and CD4(+) cell count in 18 pairs; T cell responses were measured by cytokine-enhanced interferon- gamma assay. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were stimulated with HIV consensus peptides from Gag, Nef, and Tat. The influence of ethnicity, sex, age, viral load, and CD4(+) cell count on T cell responses was determined through linear regression analyses. After adjustment for CD4(+) count, age, and log(10) viral load, African American children demonstrated significantly higher Gag responses (average, 486 spot-forming cells higher; P=.01) than Hispanic children; this was significantly driven by robust responses in African American girls near the age of puberty, many of whom carried the human leukocyte antigen class I B*58 allele.
authors.affiliation: Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology, San Francisco General Hospital, University of California, 94158, USA. esharp@itsa.ucsf.edu
authors.forename: Elizabeth R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Sharp
authors.forename: Jason D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Barbour
authors.forename: R Karl
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Karlsson
authors.forename: Kimberly A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Jordan
authors.forename: Johan K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Sandberg
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wiznia
authors.forename: Michael G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Rosenberg
authors.forename: Douglas F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Nixon
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001741:Black or African American; D044383:Black People; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D015683:Gene Products, gag / Q000276:immunology; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000635:transmission / Q000821:virology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000276:immunology*; D015235:HLA-B Antigens / Q000378:metabolism; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D008297:Male; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D019562:Viral Load; D044465:White People
chemical_list: D015683:Gene Products, gag; D015235:HLA-B Antigens