Cytotoxic T lymphocyte activity and CD8 subpopulations in children at risk of HIV infection.

HIV-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) are thought to play a major role in viral control in HIV-infected adults. Changes in the relative proportions of CD8 lymphocyte subpopulations are also thought to be associated with disease progression. Less is known about the relative effectiveness of CTL against different HIV targets, or about the relationship, if any, between CTL activity and CD8 subpopulations.

Phenotypic characterization of CD8+ T cell populations in HIV disease and in anti-HIV immunity.

The CD8+ T cell population is believed to play an important role in the control of viral infection, both for suppression of viral replication and for cytotoxic activity against viral infected cells. Elevated numbers of CD8+ T cells have been demonstrated in HIV infection, and CD8+ cytotoxic T cell (CTL) activity is associated with the early, asymptomatic stage of disease. We investigated the phenotypic characteristics of the CD8 population, in whole blood, in HIV disease and determined the predominant CD8+ subpopulation involved in anti-HIV CTL activity.

Hairy leukoplakia in an HIV-negative, nonimmunosuppressed patient.

Oral hairy leukoplakia is an Epstein-Barr virus-associated lesion that is considered to be a marker of immunosuppression. We report a case of oral hairy leukoplakia in a healthy nonimmunosuppressed elderly patient with no evidence of HIV infection on repeated investigation. This report has important implications on our understanding of the significance of this lesion.

Suppression of an established DTH response to ovalbumin in mice by feeding antigen after immunization.

Experiments were designed to examine whether systemic delayed-type hypersensitivity responses (DTH) to ovalbumin (OVA) can be suppressed when antigen is fed after immunization, and to investigate the immunological mechanisms involved. A single 25 mg feed of OVA given 7 or 14 days after immunization with OVA in complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) suppressed the DTH response of BDF1 mice, but had no significant effect on the serum IgG antibody response. DTH suppression was greatest when antigen was fed soon after immunization, and became less pronounced as the time interval between feeding and immunization increased.