AI Article Synopsis
- A deeper understanding of HIV replication and effective drug combinations has led to long-term antiretroviral therapies, but these are not cures and must be maintained for life.
- Elite controllers (ECs), a small group of HIV-infected individuals who do not need therapy, may provide insights into achieving a functional cure.
- Research revealed that ECs had undetectable levels of serum IFNα and showed no immune dysfunction, contrasting with untreated non-EC patients who exhibited significant immune impairment, suggesting elevated IFNα plays a crucial role in driving HIV-related immune issues.
Article Abstract
Background: A complete understanding of the different steps of HIV replication and an effective drug combination have led to modern antiretroviral regimens that block HIV replication for decades, but these therapies are not curative and must be taken for life. "Elite controllers" (ECs) is a term for the 0.5% of HIV-infected persons requiring no antiretroviral therapy, whose status may point the way toward a functional HIV cure. Defining the mechanisms of this control may be key to understanding how to replicate this functional cure in others.
Methods: In ECs and untreated non-EC patients, we compared IFNα serum concentration, distribution of immune cell subsets, and frequency of cell markers associated with immune dysfunction. We also investigated the effect of an elevated dose of IFNα on distinct subsets within dendritic cells, natural killer cells, and CD4+ and CD8 + T cells.
Results: Serum IFNα was undetectable in ECs, but all immune cell subsets from untreated non-EC patients were structurally and functionally impaired. We also show that the altered phenotype and function of these cell subsets in non-EC patients can be recapitulated when cells are stimulated in vitro with high-dose IFNα.
Conclusions: Elevated IFNα is a key mediator of HIV pathogenesis.
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Source |
|---|---|
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10951235 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s43856-024-00454-6 | DOI Listing |
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