Alterations of CD4(+) CD25(+) Foxp3(+) regulatory T cells in HIV-infected slow progressors of former blood donors in China.
Our objective was to study the alterations of CD4(+) CD25(+) Foxp3(+) T(regs) in HIV-infected SPs and to examine the role of T(regs) in the disease progression of HIV. The proportion of CD4(+) CD25(+) Foxp3(+) T(regs) in peripheral blood of 24 SPs, 30 asymptomatic HIV-infected patients, 20 AIDS patients, and 16 non-infected controls was quantified using flow cytometry. HIV Gag peptide mix-induced IFN-γ expression in CD8(+) T cells in whole and CD25-depleted PBMCs was examined to evaluate the function of T(regs) . The expression of CTLA-4 in T(regs) was also detected to measure the suppressive effect of T(regs) . HLA-DR and CD38 expression were measured to study the relationship between the frequency of T(regs) and immune activation of HIV-infected patients. The frequency of CD4(+) CD25(+) Foxp3(+) regulatory T cells in SPs was lower than in asymptomatic HIV-infected patients, AIDS patients, and normal controls (P < 0.05). T(regs) in SPs showed lower intracellular CTLA-4 expression than those of asymptomatic HIV-infected patients and AIDS patients (P < 0.05). The frequency of T(regs) significantly correlated with the percentage of CD38 expression on CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells (P < 0.05). Multivariate regression analysis showed that the CD4(+) T cell count was the strongest independent factor correlated with the absolute count of T(regs) , while viral load had the strongest predictive strength on the proportion of T(regs) . We conclude that a lower frequency of T(regs) and intracellular CTLA-4 expression of T(regs) was one of the characteristics of SPs that may have important clinical impacts for the prediction of the clinical progress of HIV infection.
First Affiliated Hospital, China Medical University, Heping District, Shenyang, Liaoning, China.
Zining
Z
Zhang
Yongjun
Y
Jiang
Min
M
Zhang
Jing
J
Liu
Guoquan
G
Sun
Wanying
W
Shi
Yanan
Y
Wang
Hong
H
Shang
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000032:analysis; D001782:Blood Donors; D060908:CTLA-4 Antigen; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors / Q000032:analysis*; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D018655:Lymphocyte Count; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000276:immunology*; D019562:Viral Load
D015703:Antigens, CD; D060908:CTLA-4 Antigen; C556706:CTLA4 protein, human; C418974:FOXP3 protein, human; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors