Immunology and Reproductive Biology Laboratory of Medical School and State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
Viral Immunol. 2011 Feb;24(1):35-43. doi: 10.1089/vim.2010.0038.
Dendritic cells (DCs) play a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1). Reduced numbers of blood DCs have been observed in individuals with chronic HIV-1 infection. In the present study, we analyzed the expression levels of monocytes, myeloid dendritic cell (mDC) precursors, mDCs, and plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs), in HIV-1-infected patients in China who were infected via different routes of transmission, including heterosexual and homosexual sexual contact, and blood transmission through importation of blood or blood products, to further elucidate their role in HIV. Compared with HIV-negative individuals (n = 40), relative levels of CD11c+CD14⁻mDCs, CD11c++CD123(low) mDCs, and CD11c⁻CD123+ pDCs in total peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were significantly lower in all HIV patients (n = 93), and in those with blood transmission (n = 26) and heterosexual transmission (n = 43), while relative levels of CD11c+CD14⁻mDCs were significantly lower in HIV patients infected via homosexual transmission (n = 24). The results of correlation analysis demonstrated a significant negative correlation between CD4+ T-cell counts and the relative levels of CD11c++CD123(low) mDCs in HIV-I patients infected via blood transmission. There was no significant correlation between CD4+ T-cell counts and the expression level of other DC subpopulations in PBMCs from HIV patients. The results of this study suggest that HIV-1 patients with different routes of transmission exhibit altered expression levels of blood DC subpopulations, which contributes to dysregulated immune responses and pathogenesis of HIV-1.
树突状细胞（DCs）在人类免疫缺陷病毒-1（HIV-1）的发病机制中发挥着关键作用。在慢性 HIV-1 感染者中，观察到血液树突状细胞数量减少。在本研究中，我们分析了中国不同传播途径（包括异性和同性性接触以及通过输入血液或血液制品进行血液传播）感染 HIV-1 的患者中，单核细胞、髓样树突状细胞（mDC）前体、mDC 和浆细胞样树突状细胞（pDC）的表达水平，以进一步阐明它们在 HIV 中的作用。与 HIV 阴性个体（n=40）相比，所有 HIV 患者（n=93）和血液传播（n=26）及异性传播（n=43）患者的总外周血单个核细胞（PBMC）中 CD11c+CD14⁻mDC、CD11c++CD123（低）mDC 和 CD11c⁻CD123+pDC 的相对水平明显降低，而通过同性恋传播感染的 HIV 患者（n=24）中 CD11c+CD14⁻mDC 的相对水平明显降低。相关性分析结果表明，血液传播感染的 HIV-1 患者中 CD4+T 细胞计数与 CD11c++CD123（低）mDC 的相对水平呈显著负相关。HIV 患者 PBMC 中其他 DC 亚群的表达水平与 CD4+T 细胞计数之间无显著相关性。本研究结果表明，不同传播途径的 HIV-1 患者表现出血液 DC 亚群表达水平的改变，这有助于调节免疫反应和 HIV-1 的发病机制。
