T-cell and B-cell perturbations are similar in ART-naive HIV-1 and HIV-1/2 dually infected patients

BACKGROUND: HIV-2 may slow progression of a subsequently acquired HIV-1 infection through cross-neutralizing antibodies and polyfunctional CD8 T cells. We hypothesized that HIV-1/2 dually infected patients compared with HIV-1-infected patients had more preserved immune maturation subsets and less immune activation of T and B cells. METHODS: ART-naive patients with HIV-1 (n = 83) or HIV-1/2 dual (n = 27) infections were included in this cross-sectional study at an HIV clinic in Guinea-Bissau. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were analyzed by flow cytometry according to T-cell maturation and activation, regulatory T-cell fraction, and B-cell maturation and activation. RESULTS: HIV-1/2 dually infected patients had lower levels of HIV-1 RNA compared with patients with HIV-1 infection, but the levels of total HIV RNA (HIV-1 and HIV-2) were similar in the two patient groups. T-cell maturation, and proportions of regulatory T cells (FoxP3+) were also similar in the two groups. HIV-1/2 dually infected patients had higher proportions of CD4 and CD8 T cells positive for the activation marker CD38, but there was no difference in other T-cell activation markers (CD28, CTLA-4, PD-1). HIV-1/2 dually infected patients also had higher proportions of IgM-only B cells and plasmablasts. CONCLUSION: HIV-1/2 was not associated with less immune perturbations than for HIV-1 infection

Afri-Can Forum 2

CITATION: Mukudu, H., et al. 2016. Afri-Can Forum 2. BMC Infectious Diseases, 16:315, doi:10.1186/s12879-016-1466-6.The original publication is available at https://bmcinfectdis.biomedcentral.comENGLISH ABSTRACT: We are pleased to present peer reviewed forum proceedings of the 2nd synchronicity forum of GHRI/CHVIfunded Canadian and African HIV prevention and vaccine teams Forum objectives ∙GHRI-funded capacity building and HIV prevention research teams presented highlights of achievements ∙Teams discussed how to jointly build on achievements for sustainability ∙Provided an opportunity for inter-team collaboration, synchronize best approach to capacity building, mentoring of new researchers and building leadership ∙Provided opportunities for informal discussions and networking among the teams. ∙Teams learnt about recent advances in the area of African regulatory and ethics review process ∙The forum proceedings was a special supplement in an openaccess journal was producedhttps://bmcinfectdis.biomedcentral.com/articles/supplements/volume-16-supplement-2Publisher's versio