title: HIV-specific T cell immunity across the entire HIV genome in Chinese men who have sex with men.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Man who has sex with man (MSM) is one of the high risk groups for spreading HIV/AIDS. It was reported that the most prevalent human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) strain among MSM is subtype B; however, T cell immunity remains unknown across the HIV-1 B genome in this population.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using Elispot assay with synthetic peptides spanning the sequence of HIV-1 consensus B, HIV-1-specific cytotoxic T-cell lymphocyte responses were quantified among 3 treated and 19 untreated HIV-1 infected MSM from Beijing, China. Cross-sectional association between viral loads and cellular immune responses were analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Peptide pools corresponding to each HIV-1 protein were used for Env, Gag, Pol, Nef, Tat/Rev, Vpr/Vpu and Vif. The results showed that the magnitude of T cell responses in the 3 treated HIV(+) MSM group [median, 770 spot forming cells (SFCs) per 10(6) peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs)] might be significantly lower than that in the 19 untreated HIV(+) MSM group (median, 6175 SFCs per 10(6) PBMCs). Nef, Gag and Pol are the most frequently targeted HIV-1 antigens; and 16 subjects (73%) were identified with vigorous T cell immunity against each of these three proteins. The overall magnitude of T cell immunity closely related to its breadth (r = 0.72, P < 0.05) and was inversely but weakly associated with viral loads (r = -0.15). Further analysis showed that both Gag (r = -0.24) and Pol specific T cells (r = -0.12) contributed to this inverse association whereas Nef specific T cells showed no association with viral loads.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The magnitude of HIV-1 specific T cells is inversely but weakly associated with viral loads among MSM; HIV-specific T cell responses against conservative sequences (Gag and Pol) are the main contributors to this association among Chinese HIV(+) MSM. These findings have important implications for vaccine design.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, National Centre for AIDS/STD Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-yan
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xiang-gang
authors.initials: XG
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Jian-qing
authors.initials: JQ
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Shen-wei
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Shu-lin
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Xiao-xi
authors.initials: XX
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Dong-liang
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yu-hua
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Ruan
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xing
authors.forename: Yi-ming
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Shao
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002681:China; D016679:Genome, Viral / Q000276:immunology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000276:immunology*; D006716:Homosexuality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / Q000276:immunology*; D019562:Viral Load