Successful HAART is associated with high B-chemokine levels in chronic HIV type 1-infected patients.
Chemokine receptors are used by HIV-1 for entry into CD4+ T cells. The beta-chemokines are capable of inhibiting HIV replication. This study measured beta-chemokine macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1alpha and MIP-1beta levels and determined the CCR5 and CXCR4 expression on T cells in HIV-1-infected patients treated with HAART. The time of known HIV infection and time of HAART use were similar between failure and successful groups. The CD4+ T cell nadir was 163 vs. 251 cells/mm3, p = 0.07, for failure and successful groups, respectively. The successfully treated group, when compared with the failure group, had a higher median CD4+ T cells count (667 vs. 257 cells/mm3; p = 0.003) as well as higher spontaneous MIP-1alpha (median of 4390 vs. 802 pg/ml, p = 0.03) and MIP-1beta (median of 2416 vs. 1117 pg/ml, p = 0.001) levels. The untreated patients had a higher number and intensity of CCR5- and CXCR4-expressing T cells. Higher levels of chemokines were not related to nadir CD4+ T and current CD8+ T cell counts. Successfully treated patients were able to produce higher amounts of beta-chemokines and normalize the coreceptor overexpression on T cells. These findings may have clinical implications, such as a new strategy of using chemokines as adjuvants in anti-HIV therapy.
Laboratory of Immunology and Dermatology, Department of Dermatology, Medical School of São Paulo University, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
A
A
Brito
A
A
Almeida
C R
CR
Gonsalez
M
M
Mendonça
F
F
Ferreira
S S
SS
Fernandes
A J S
AJ
Duarte
J
J
Casseb
D000328:Adult; D023241:Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D054405:Chemokine CCL3; D054407:Chemokine CCL4; D019742:Chemokines, CC / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019713:Receptors, CCR5 / Q000378:metabolism; D019718:Receptors, CXCR4 / Q000378:metabolism; D016896:Treatment Outcome
C515429:CCL3 protein, human; C066507:CCL4 protein, human; D054405:Chemokine CCL3; D054407:Chemokine CCL4; D019742:Chemokines, CC; D019713:Receptors, CCR5; D019718:Receptors, CXCR4