Association of IL-7 with disease progression in Chinese HIV-1 seropositive individuals.
BACKGROUND
Elevated levels of interleukin-7 (IL-7) have been correlated with CD4(+) T cell depletion and the emergence of syncytium-inducing (SI) variants in human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) infection, and suggested as an indicator of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) disease progression. Therefore, we investigated the effects of IL-7 on disease progression and virus phenotype in Chinese HIV/AIDS patients.


METHODS
In a cross-sectional study of 71 untreated HIV-1 seropositive individuals and 12 healthy donors, plasma IL-7 levels were determined by an ultra sensitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and its relations to CD4(+) T cells, CD8(+) T cells, plasma viral loads and HIV phenotypes were analyzed.


RESULTS
Significant higher IL-7 levels were found in Chinese HIV/AIDS patients [(3.33 +/- 3.60) pg/ml] than those of health controls [(1.2 +/- 0.81) pg/ml] (P < 0.05), and IL-7 levels were inversely associated with CD4(+) T cell counts (r = -0.497, P < 0.01). Furthermore, IL-7 levels were significant higher in patients with SI variants [(9.12 +/- 4.55) pg/ml] than those with non-syncytium-inducing variants [(1.50 +/- 2.69) pg/ml] (P < 0.01).


CONCLUSIONS
Increased IL-7 levels were found in Chinese HIV/AIDS patients and significantly associated with disease progression, thus increased IL-7 plasma levels may indicate disease progression.
AIDS Research Center, First Affiliated Hospital, China Medical University, Shenyang 110001, China.
Qi
Q
Wang
Hong
H
Shang
Ya-nan
YN
Wang
Yong-jun
YJ
Jiang
Jing
J
Liu
Zi-ning
ZN
Zhang
D000328:Adult; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D018450:Disease Progression; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D015497:HIV-1; D006801:Humans; D015851:Interleukin-7 / Q000097:blood* / Q000502:physiology; D010641:Phenotype; D019562:Viral Load
D015851:Interleukin-7