title: Disrupted Homeostatic Cytokines Expression in Secondary Lymph Organs during HIV Infection.
abstract: Research has firmly established that infection by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) leads to structural disruption in secondary lymph organs (SLOs) and that IL-7 expression by SLOs is downregulated in simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)-infected rhesus macaques. However, the foregoing has not been demonstrated in HIV-infected patients. As well, SLO-produced chemokines and cytokines, other than IL-7, have not been tested. In this study, SLOs in HIV-infected patients exhibit decreased levels of lymphoid cytokines, such as IL-7 and C-C motif chemokine ligand 21 (CCL21), due to lower expression of lymphotoxin (LT)-β. Previous research has shown that LT-β is produced mainly by CD4⁺T cells in rhesus macaques, while our study found the same level of LT-β expressed by CD4⁺T and CD8⁺T cells in humans. CD8⁺T cells substitute for depleted CD4⁺T cells LT-β production. Only the total number of CD3⁺T cells can account for the majority of LT-β in human SLOs. This study indicates a possible mechanism and a potential target for improvement of SLO function in HIV-infected patients, a novel adjuvant therapy for AIDS.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Xinqiao Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400037, China. chaoren72@126.com.
authors.forename: Lintao
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Xinqiao Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400037, China. nwgjb@163.com.
authors.forename: Jianbao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, Xinqiao Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400037, China. xili72@163.com.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Xinqiao Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400037, China. lln372@126.com.
authors.forename: Lina
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Xinqiao Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400037, China. yangoncology@163.com.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathogenic Biology, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400037, China. guobomail@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Xinqiao Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400037, China. bo.zhu@tmmu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D054421:Chemokine CCL21 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000378:metabolism*; D006706:Homeostasis; D006801:Humans; D015851:Interleukin-7 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000378:metabolism*; D008233:Lymphotoxin-alpha / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D013154:Spleen / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D054421:Chemokine CCL21; D015851:Interleukin-7; D008233:Lymphotoxin-alpha
keywords: CCL21; IL-7; human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection; secondary lymph organs