Association between Vgamma2Vdelta2 T cells and disease progression after infection with closely related strains of HIV in China.
BACKGROUND
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and disease are accompanied by decreases in the absolute number and function of Vgamma2Vdelta2 T cells, suggesting that this subset of cells may play an important role in controlling disease. We performed a cross-sectional study involving HIV-infected former blood donors and assessed the association between Vgamma2Vdelta2 T cells and markers of disease progression.


METHODS
Changes in Vgamma2Vdelta2 T cell count and function were compared between HIV-infected individuals and healthy blood donors using the Mann-Whitney U test. The relationships between Vgamma2Vdelta2 T cell count, plasma viral load, and CD4 T cell count were analyzed using the Spearman correlation.


RESULTS
We found significant positive correlations between CD4 T cell count and both total Vgamma2Vdelta2 T cell count (P<.001) and functional (isopentenyl pyrophosphate-responsive) Vgamma2Vdelta2 T cell count (P<.001). We found significant reverse correlations between viral load and both total Vgamma2Vdelta2 T cell count (P<.05) and functional Vgamma2Vdelta2 T cell count (P<.05).


CONCLUSIONS
The association of Vgamma2Vdelta2 T cells with disease progression in 146 HIV-infected participants supports the view that intact Vgamma2Vdelta2 T cell populations are important for controlling HIV disease.
Li
Haishan
H
State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for AIDS/STD Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China.
Peng
Hong
H
Ma
Pengfei
P
Ruan
Yuhua
Y
Su
Bing
B
Ding
Xinping
X
Xu
Chen
C
Pauza
C David
CD
Shao
Yiming
Y
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D002681:China; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D018655:Lymphocyte Count; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016692:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology
D016692:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta