title: Persistant immunodominant anti-gag SLYNTVATL responses in HIV-patients with up to 7 years of HAART.
abstract: We analyzed Gag-specific CD8+ T-cells in HIV-patients on long-term HAART and in untreated chronically-infected patients by using iTAg MHC class I tetramers (HLA-A*0201) specific for SLYNTVATL. Gag SLYNTVATL-specific CD8+ T-cells were detectable in 18 of 26 treated patients (median 5.2 years of HAART) and in 10 of 14 untreated patients. Median percentage of Gag SLYNTVATL-specific CD8+ T-cells in treated patients was 0.10 (range 0.00-0.70%). Median number of Gag SLYNTVATL-specific CD8+ T-cells per 50,000 CD8+ T-cells was 56.0 cells (range 2.0-344.0 cells) and was not significantly different compared with untreated patients (p = 0.978). Numbers of Gag SLYNTVATL-specific CD8+ T-cells were inversely correlated with the duration of undetectable plasma viremia (p = 0.02, Rho = -0.430). Chronically-infected HIV-patients on HAART (for up to 7.7 years) maintained a stable subpopulation of Gag SLYNTVATL-specific CD8+ T-cells. This finding is relevant for the analysis of treatment-induced immune reconstitution and, possibly, for future therapeutic strategies in HIV-disease.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Molecular Diagnostics and Cellular Immunology, University Hospital for Infectious Diseases Dr. Fran Mihaljević, Zagreb, Croatia. snjezana.zidovec.lepej@bfm.hr
authors.forename: Snjezana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zidovec Lepej
authors.forename: Ela
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kosor
authors.forename: Alenka
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gagro
authors.forename: Adriana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vince
authors.forename: Anica
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Remenar
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Poljak
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D023241:Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015683:Gene Products, gag / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000276:immunology*; D015789:HLA-A2 Antigen / Q000097:blood* / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D054299:env Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus
chemical_list: D015683:Gene Products, gag; D015789:HLA-A2 Antigen; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D054299:env Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus; C473991:p17 gag peptide, human immunodeficiency virus