title: Expression of cytokine-mRNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cell of human immunodeficiency virus-1 subtype C infected individuals with opportunistic viral infections from India (South).
abstract: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease progression is associated with a marked change in the level of plasma cytokines. The study reported here investigated the level of mRNA expression of different cytokines: Tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interferon (INF)-gamma, interleukin-10 (IL-10) and IL-21 in the peripheral blood mononuclear cell among the antiretroviral therapy naive subtype C HIV-1 infected individuals and normal healthy controls by real time polymerase chain reaction. The mRNA expressions of all the 4 cytokines in HIV-1 infected individuals were significantly higher compared to healthy controls (P value range 0.0004-0.01). The mean level of IL-10, INF-gamma and TNF-α were higher in HIV infected individuals with low CD4 counts (<300 cells/μl). The IL-10 expression showed a significant negative correlation with CD4 counts (r=-0.25, P=0.04) while IL-21 showed a positive correlation with CD4 counts (r=0.26, P=0.03). There was a significant negative correlation between the cytomegalovirus (CMV) viral load and IL-21 expression. Cytokine levels by mRNA detection avoids the inherent problem of measuring plasma level and this study also provide information on the cytokine levels and CD4+ T cell level among HIV-1 subtype C infected individuals with opportunistic viral infections like CMV.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sachithanandham
authors.forename: V V
authors.initials: VV
authors.lastname: Ramalingam
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Raja
authors.forename: O C
authors.initials: OC
authors.lastname: Abraham
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Pulimood
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Virology, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kannangai
mesh_terms: D017088:AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D000328:Adult; D016207:Cytokines / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D005838:Genotype; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000821:virology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis*; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D012333:RNA, Messenger