Maraviroc contributes to the restoration of the homeostasis of regulatory T-cell subsets in antiretroviral-naive HIV-infected subjects.

Regulatory T (Treg) cells comprise different functional subsets with different CCR5 expression. Treg homeostasis is disrupted by HIV but the effect of treatment has barely been explored. In a longitudinal design, we compared the effect of a maraviroc-containing (n = 9) or sparing (n = 12) therapy in antiretroviral-naive HIV-positive participants on peripheral FoxP3(low) CD45RA(+) (nTreg), FoxP3(high) CD45RA(-) (eTreg) and FoxP3(low) CD45RA(-) (non-Treg) cells. Maraviroc significantly reduced all subsets in the short-term and, except for nTreg cells, also normalized them in the long-term. The correlation between eTreg cells and CD4 counts, lost before treatment, was only restored by maraviroc. The differential effect of maraviroc on Treg subsets contributes to understanding its immunomodulatory effects

Maraviroc contributes to the restoration of the homeostasis of regulatory T-cell subsets in antiretroviral-naive HIV-infected subjects

Regulatory T (Treg) cells comprise different functional subsets with different CCR5 expression. Treg homeostasis is disrupted by HIV but the effect of treatment has barely been explored. In a longitudinal design, we compared the effect of a maraviroc-containing (n = 9) or sparing (n = 12) therapy in antiretroviral-naive HIV-positive participants on peripheral FoxP3low CD45RA+ (nTreg), FoxP3high CD45RA– (eTreg) and FoxP3low CD45RA– (non-Treg) cells. Maraviroc significantly reduced all subsets in the short-term and, except for nTreg cells, also normalized them in the long-term. The correlation between eTreg cells and CD4 counts, lost before treatment, was only restored by maraviroc. The differential effect of maraviroc on Treg subsets contributes to understanding its immunomodulatory effects.This work was supported by grants from the Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria (FIS; P11/02014), the Spanish AIDS Research Network of Excellence (RIS; RD12/0017/0029, RD12/0017/0037), the Ministerio de Sanidad, Política Social e Igualdad (EC11-520], the Fundación Progreso y Salud [PI-0081-2011], and Pfizer/ViiV Healthcare (grant numbers WS843473, WS2425049). Y.M. Pacheco was supported by the Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria through the “Miguel Servet” programs (CP07/00240, CPII13/00037), and by the Consejeria de Salud y Bienestar Social of Junta de Andalucia through the ‘Nicolas Monardes’ programme [C-0010/13]. E Ruiz-Mateos was supported by the Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria through the ‘Miguel Servet’ programme [CP08/0172]. M.R. Benhnia was supported by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Ramon y Cajal grant RYC-2010-07419)