title: HIV-1 imposes rigidity on blood and semen cytokine networks.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Although it is established that the levels of individual cytokines are altered by HIV-1 infection, the changes in cytokine interrelations that organize them into networks have been poorly studied. Here, we evaluated these networks in HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected individuals in fluid compartments that are critical for HIV-1 pathogenesis and transmission, namely blood and semen.
  
  
  METHODS
  In samples collected from therapy-naïve HIV-1-infected and HIV-1-uninfected individuals, we measured HIV-1-load, CD4 cell count, and levels of 21 cytokines using a multiplex bead assay.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Cytokine networks in blood and semen were different for HIV-1-infected and HIV-1-uninfected individuals. In both compartments of HIV-1-infected individuals, the cytokine networks were more interlocked than in controls: HIV-1 infection resulted in the establishment of new correlations and in the strengthening of pre-existing correlations between different cytokines. In blood and semen of HIV-infected patients, there were, respectively, 68 and 72 statistically significant correlations between cytokines, while in uninfected individuals, there were 18 and 21 such correlations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  HIV-1 infection reorganizes the cytokine networks, establishing new strong correlations between various cytokines and thus imposes a high rigidity on the cytokine network. This rigidity may reflect the impairment of the ability of the immune system to respond to microbial challenges.
authors.affiliation: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20895, USA.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lisco
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Introini
authors.forename: Arshi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Munawwar
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vanpouille
authors.forename: Jean-Charles
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Grivel
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Blank
authors.forename: Sarman
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Leonid
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Margolis
mesh_terms: D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood*; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012661:Semen / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000821:virology; D019562:Viral Load
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines