title: Combined Action of Anti-CD4 Autoantibodies and Rheumatoid Factor in the Development of CD4 Lymphocytopenia in Rats Immunized with HIV-1 gp120.
abstract: The development of immunodeficiency in HIV-infected patients is known to result from CD4+lymphocyte depletion. Most CD4+lymphocyte cells destined to die are not infected. The mechanism of HIV-uninfected cell death has not yet been fully elucidated. The aim of this study is to examine the role of anti-CD4 autoantibodies and physiological rheumatoid factor (RF) in the development of CD4+lymphocytopenia. Immunization of Wistar rats with gp120 HIV-1 induces chronic production of anti-CD4 autoantibodies and decreases CD4+lymphocytes in the blood. However, the anti-CD4 autoantibodies produced as part of the immune response to gp120 do not kill CD4+cells directly. In rats producing anti-CD4 autoantibodies, a low level of peripheral CD4 lymphocytes is associated with high blood RF levels. The sera containing RF killed lymphocytes when the lymphocytes were pretreated with sera containing anti-CD4 autoantibodies. Thus, the death of CD4+lymphocytes in rats immunized with gp120 is a result of the combined action of anti-CD4 autoantibodies and RF, and the action of these factors can be separated in time. The fact that two signals are needed for CD4+lymphocyte death in HIV gp120-immunized rats does not contradict the hypothesis of the activation-induced death of uninfected CD4+cells in HIV-infected humans.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology and Cell Biology, Udmurt State University , Izhevsk, Russia .
authors.forename: Liubov
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Beduleva
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology and Cell Biology, Udmurt State University , Izhevsk, Russia .
authors.forename: Tatyana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Khramova
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology and Cell Biology, Udmurt State University , Izhevsk, Russia .
authors.forename: Igor
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Menshikov
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology and Cell Biology, Udmurt State University , Izhevsk, Russia .
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Stolyarova
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology and Cell Biology, Udmurt State University , Izhevsk, Russia .
authors.forename: Svetlana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pavlova
mesh_terms: D016915:AIDS Vaccines / Q000276:immunology*; D000818:Animals; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000378:metabolism*; D015704:CD4 Antigens / Q000276:immunology*; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D015699:HIV Envelope Protein gp120 / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008231:Lymphopenia / Q000276:immunology*; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012217:Rheumatoid Factor / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D016915:AIDS Vaccines; D001323:Autoantibodies; D015704:CD4 Antigens; D015699:HIV Envelope Protein gp120; C514793:gp120 protein, Human immunodeficiency virus 1; D012217:Rheumatoid Factor
keywords: CD4; CD4 deficiency; activation-induced death; autoantibodies; experimental model; rheumatoid factor