Heightened T-cell proliferation without an elevation of CD4+ T cell spontaneous apoptosis in AIDS patients.
T lymphocyte turnover has been studied extensively in HIV infection. The dynamic characteristics of various subsets of T cells in antiretroviral-naive, HIV-1-infected individuals, however, have not been well defined. Here, we performed a cross-sectional study using peripheral blood T cells from 39 antiretroviral-naive, chronically HIV-infected patients, as well as 16 healthy, HIV-negative controls. T-cell subset turnover rates were measured by Ki-67 antigen staining; levels of spontaneous apoptosis and activation in T-cell subsets were also determined by flow cytometry. Surprisingly, with disease progression, the level of T-cell spontaneous apoptosis did not increase significantly, despite a heightened rate of T-cell subset turnover and increased expression of the CD38 activation marker. These data refute the idea that increased T cell turnover is merely a homeostatic process in response to CD4 T cell loss during HIV disease progression, and suggest that future mechanistic studies may be needed for a comprehensive understanding of T-cell dynamics during HIV infection. Such understanding may help to develop new strategies for the immune modulation of clinical disease.
Department of Infectious Diseases, Beijing You'an Hospital, Capital Medical University, China.
Haiying
H
Li
Xiaojie
X
Huang
Caiping
C
Guo
Wen
W
Wang
Zaicun
Z
Li
Tong
T
Zhang
Qiaoli
Q
Peng
Xinyue
X
Chen
Hao
H
Wu
D051997:ADP-ribosyl Cyclase 1 / Q000276:immunology; D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000276:immunology*; D000328:Adult; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000276:immunology*; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D019394:Ki-67 Antigen / Q000276:immunology; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000276:immunology; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology
D019394:Ki-67 Antigen; D012367:RNA, Viral; D051997:ADP-ribosyl Cyclase 1