Effects of HIV-1 infection on lymphocyte phenotypes in blood versus lymph nodes.

Most immunopathogenesis studies of HIV-1 use peripheral blood. Most lymphocytes reside in lymphoid tissues, however, and the extent to which blood mirrors tissues is unclear. Here, we analyze lymphocytes in blood and lymph nodes of HIV-1-uninfected and -infected persons.

Persistent alterations in the T-cell repertoires of HIV-1-infected and at-risk uninfected men.

Objective: We examined the association between immunogenic exposure and T-cell receptor (TCR) diversity to more clearly assess the impact of HIV-1 infection on the T-cell repertoire.

Methods: : To estimate the extent of T-cell clonality attributable to HIV-1 infection, we evaluated T-cell repertoires in low-risk and at-risk seronegative men and HIV-1 seropositive men by assessment of T-cell receptor beta-chain (TCR beta) complimentary determining region 3 (CDR3) lengths.

Results: The frequency of T-cell clonality in both HIV-1 infected and at-risk uninfected men was elevated in comparison to low-risk uninfected men.

Immunologic profile of highly exposed yet HIV type 1-seronegative men.

The host immune factors that determine susceptibility to HIV-1 infection are poorly understood. We compared multiple immunologic parameters in three groups of HIV-1-seronegative men: 14 highly exposed (HR10), 7 previously reported possibly to have sustained transient infection (PTI), and a control group of 14 low risk blood bank donors (BB). Virus-specific cellular immune assays were performed for CD4(+) T helper cell responses, CD8(+) cytotoxic T lymphocyte activity, CD8(+) cell chemokine release, and CD8(+) cell-derived antiviral soluble factor activity.

MaGiK method of T-Cell receptor repertoire analysis.

T-cell receptor diversity enables the cellular immune response to recognize a broad range of viral and other pathogenic agents. An increasingly common method of characterizing T-cell receptor diversity and usage in response to antigenic challenges involves the identification of clonal expansions by PCR amplification of the CDR3 region of distinct TCRVbeta families. Though clonal expansions often appear evident upon visual inspection of the results, a systematic method is needed for the valid enumeration of these expansions.

Predictive value of immunologic and virologic markers after long or short duration of HIV-1 infection.

Laboratory markers that predict HIV-1 disease progression include plasma viral burden, CD4+ T-cell count, and CD38 expression on CD8 T cells. To better understand whether the predictive value of these markers is dependent on how long an individual has been infected, we analyzed data from the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study early (median = 2.8 years) and late (median = 8.