title: The controversial impact of B cells subsets on immune response to pneumococcal vaccine in HIV-1 patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Chronic HIV infection leads to severe perturbations of the B cell populations and hypo-responsiveness to vaccines. The associations between circulating B cell subpopulations and the antibody response to pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine in antiretroviral-naïve and treated patients were studied.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty-six HIV-infected adults were grouped according to antiretroviral therapy (ART) and CD4+ cell count; 31 were ART-naïve and 35 were ART-treated, and they were matched for age, CD4 cell count, and duration of HIV infection. All subjects were immunized with the 23-valent polysaccharide vaccine against Streptococcus pneumoniae. Pre- and post-vaccination B cell subpopulations were assessed by flow cytometry. Serum IgG concentrations for vaccine serotypes were quantified by ELISA at baseline and at 4 and 48 weeks post-vaccination.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients under highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) had significantly higher antibody levels against pneumococcal vaccine antigens, while an adequate number of patients responded to vaccination. Memory B cells were diminished over time, although treated patients maintained higher levels of all subsets studied, with the exception of activated memory and isotype-switched memory B cells.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Low concentrations of total B cells and exhausted memory B cells was the strongest independent predictor of poor pneumococcal vaccine responsiveness, emphasizing that B cell subset disturbances are associated with a poor vaccine response among HIV-infected patients.
authors.affiliation: 1st Internal Medicine Department, Infectious Diseases Division, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 1, Stilponos Kyriakidi Str, 54636, Thessaloniki, Greece. Electronic address: olgat_med@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Tsachouridou
authors.affiliation: 1st Internal Medicine Department, Infectious Diseases Division, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 1, Stilponos Kyriakidi Str, 54636, Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Lemonia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Skoura
authors.affiliation: 1st Internal Medicine Department, Infectious Diseases Division, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 1, Stilponos Kyriakidi Str, 54636, Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Pantelis
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zebekakis
authors.affiliation: National AIDS Reference Centre of Northern Greece, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Apostolia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Margariti
authors.affiliation: 1st Internal Medicine Department, Infectious Diseases Division, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 1, Stilponos Kyriakidi Str, 54636, Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Adamantini
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Georgiou
authors.affiliation: 1st Internal Medicine Department, Infectious Diseases Division, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 1, Stilponos Kyriakidi Str, 54636, Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Daniilidis
authors.affiliation: National AIDS Reference Centre of Northern Greece, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Nikolaos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Malisiovas
authors.affiliation: 1st Internal Medicine Department, Infectious Diseases Division, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 1, Stilponos Kyriakidi Str, 54636, Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Symeon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Metallidis
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood; D023241:Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active; D016175:B-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology*; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology*; D015497:HIV-1; D006801:Humans; D007156:Immunologic Memory; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D022242:Pneumococcal Vaccines / Q000276:immunology*; D013296:Streptococcus pneumoniae / Q000276:immunology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: C414006:23-valent pneumococcal capsular polysaccharide vaccine; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D022242:Pneumococcal Vaccines
keywords: Antibody response; B cell subsets; HIV-1 infection; Memory cells; Phagocytosis