title: HIV‐exposed seronegative commercial sex workers show a quiescent phenotype in the CD4+ T cell compartment and reduced expression of HIV‐dependent host factors.
abstract: Studies of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-exposed seronegative individuals are crucial to inform vaccine design. In the present study we demonstrated that HIV-exposed seronegative commercial sex workers produce lower levels of proinflammatory cytokines at baseline than HIV-negative control subjects. We also showed that CD4+ T cells of HIV-exposed seronegative commercial sex workers have a characteristically lower level of gene expression that can be seen in differentially expressed genes and systems crucial for HIV replication, such as the T cell receptor pathway and previously identified HIV dependency factors. This apparent lowered activation results in a phenomenon we term "immune quiescence," which may contribute to host resistance to HIV.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Manitoba, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Paul J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: McLaren
authors.forename: T Blake
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Ball
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wachihi
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jaoko
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Kelvin
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Danesh
authors.forename: Joshua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kimani
authors.forename: Francis A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Plummer
authors.forename: Keith R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Fowke
mesh_terms: D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology*; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D006678:HIV / Q000276:immunology*; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D010641:Phenotype; D011477:Sex Work
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines