title: Cellular interplay among Th17, Th1, and Treg cells in HIV-1 subtype "C" infection.
abstract: CD4 T cell depletion is central to HIV pathogenesis and disease progression. Different subsets of CD4 T cells cooperate to combat an infection. Therefore, the immune balance among Th17, Th1, and Treg cells may be critical in HIV immunopathogenesis which is not adequately defined yet. The impact of HIV-1 infection on the interplay of Th17/Th1/Treg cells in HIV-1 infected Indian individuals was examined in the present study and report that HIV-1 Gag specific peripheral blood Th17 cells were significantly depleted in late infected subjects, compared to early infected subjects and slow progressors. Although, the gradual loss of Th1 cells was also reported during HIV-1 disease progression but relative to Th17 cells, Th1 cells were found to be more resistant to HIV-1 infection. Additionally, a significant and progressive gain in Treg cellular frequency was observed as disease progress from early to late stage of HIV-1 infection. This study also indicate that slow progressors might have an intrinsic capacity to develop strong HIV-1 specific Th17 and Th1 cell responses contrasted with a faint Treg cellular performance signifies the importance of these cellular subsets in progressive versus nonprogressive HIV-1 infection. A significant gradual loss of Th17/Treg ratio was found to be associated with disease state, plasma viral load and immune activation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India; Saifia College of Science, Barkatullah University, Bhopal, India.
authors.forename: Alpana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Madhu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vajpayee
authors.forename: Sharique A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Ali
authors.forename: Neeraj Kumar
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Chauhan
mesh_terms: D015658:HIV Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D020276:HIV Long-Term Survivors; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology*; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000276:immunology*; D018417:Th1 Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D058504:Th17 Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D019562:Viral Load; D054301:gag Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D054301:gag Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus
keywords: early infection; immune balance; late infection; plasma viral load; slow-progressor