Acute HIV infection induces mucosal infiltration with CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, epithelial apoptosis, and a mucosal barrier defect.

Background & Aims: A barrier defect of the intestinal mucosa is thought to affect the progression of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. It is not clear whether the mucosal barrier impairment already is present in acute infection and what mechanisms cause this defect. We analyzed T-cell subsets, epithelial apoptosis, and barrier function of the duodenal mucosa in patients with acute HIV infection.

Mucosal but not peripheral FOXP3+ regulatory T cells are highly increased in untreated HIV infection and normalize after suppressive HAART.

Recent evidence indicates that regulatory T cells (T(regs)) play an important role in HIV infection. However, although the gastrointestinal mucosa is a key compartment in HIV disease, no data on mucosal T(regs) in HIV infection are available. In this study, we compared the frequency of T(regs) in duodenal mucosa and peripheral blood (PB) of 13 treatment-naive and 13 suppressively treated HIV-infected patients with that of 6 patients with norovirus infection and 12 healthy controls.