title: Human endogenous retrovirus expression is inversely associated with chronic immune activation in HIV-1 infection.
abstract: Human endogenous retroviruses (HERV) are remnants of ancestral retroviral infections integrated into the germ line, and constitute approximately 8% of the genome. Several autoimmune disorders, malignancies, and infectious diseases such as HIV-1 are associated with higher HERV expression. The degree to which HERV expression in vivo results in persistent inflammation is not known. We studied the association of immune activation and HERV-K expression in 20 subjects with chronic, untreated progressive HIV-1 infection and 10 HIV-1 negative controls. The mean HERV-K gag and env RNA expression level in the HIV-1 infected cohort was higher than in the control group (p = 0.0003), and was negatively correlated with the frequency of activated CD38+HLA-DR+CD4+ T cells (Rho = -0.61; p = 0.01) and activated CD38+HLA-DR+CD8+ T cells (Rho = -0.51; p = 0.03). Although HIV-infected persons had higher levels of HERV-K RNA expression (as expected), the level of RNA expression was negatively associated with level of T cell activation. The mechanism for this unexpected association remains to be defined.
authors.affiliation: Center for Research in Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Respiratory Diseases, Mexico City, Federal District, Mexico. christopher.ormsby@cieni.org.mx
authors.forename: Christopher E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Ormsby
authors.forename: Devi
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sengupta
authors.forename: Ravi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tandon
authors.forename: Steven G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Deeks
authors.forename: Jeffrey N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: R Brad
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: Mario A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Ostrowski
authors.forename: Keith E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Garrison
authors.forename: Joel A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Vázquez-Pérez
authors.forename: Gustavo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Reyes-Terán
authors.forename: Douglas F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Nixon
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003710:Demography; D020077:Endogenous Retroviruses / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D015967:Gene Expression Regulation, Viral; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007109:Immunity / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral