Paiardini Mirko, Pandrea Ivona, Apetrei Cristian, Silvestri Guido
Departments of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA.
Annu Rev Med. 2009;60:485-95. doi: 10.1146/annurev.med.60.041807.123753.
The fact that human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) causes a deadly disease in humans whereas its simian counterparts, the simian immunodeficiency viruses (SIVs), are virtually nonpathogenic in their natural hosts remains a fundamental mystery of modern medicine. Arguably, the pathogenesis of HIV infection will remain poorly understood until the mechanisms responsible for the AIDS resistance of natural SIV hosts are fully explained. Over the past few years, some key features of natural SIV infections have been described in studies conducted predominantly in sooty mangabeys (SMs), African green monkeys (AGMs), and mandrills. Natural SIV hosts are able to avoid the chronic, generalized immune system activation that is associated with disease progression in HIV-infected individuals and have evolved to down-modulate the expression of CCR5 on CD4(+) T cells. Better elucidation of the mechanisms underlying the lack of disease progression of natural SIV infections holds promise for the design of novel preventive and therapeutic approaches to HIV infection.
人类免疫缺陷病毒（HIV）在人类中会引发致命疾病，而其猿类对应物——猿猴免疫缺陷病毒（SIV）——在其自然宿主中实际上却不具有致病性，这一事实仍是现代医学的一个基本谜团。可以说，在负责天然SIV宿主对艾滋病具有抗性的机制得到充分解释之前，HIV感染的发病机制仍将难以理解。在过去几年里，天然SIV感染的一些关键特征已在主要针对乌黑白眉猴（SM）、非洲绿猴（AGM）和山魈进行的研究中得到描述。天然SIV宿主能够避免与HIV感染个体疾病进展相关的慢性、全身性免疫系统激活，并且已经进化到下调CD4(+) T细胞上CCR5的表达。更好地阐明天然SIV感染缺乏疾病进展的潜在机制，有望为设计针对HIV感染的新型预防和治疗方法带来希望。
