Department of Anesthesiology, University of Munich, Marchioninistrasse 15, 81377, Munich, Germany.
Infection. 2013 Jun;41(3):687-90. doi: 10.1007/s15010-013-0445-8. Epub 2013 Mar 28.
To test a new assay based on an ex vivo cytokine release from whole blood for the monitoring of immune changes in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients.
A pilot study of outpatients with HIV infection (n = 9) at a large academic hospital who were divided into three groups: HIV-infected patients on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) with a CD4(+) cell count >350/μL (group I) or a CD4(+) cell count <350/μL (group II) and HIV-infected HAART-naïve subjects with a CD4(+) cell count >350/μL (group III). All groups were compared with healthy volunteers (n = 3). The ex vivo cytokine release assay was performed in a three-step process: (1) blood collection, (2) whole-blood ex vivo incubation over 48 h without or with a standard set of well-defined recall antigens as comparable to those used formerly in the skin delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) test, (3) cytokine determination from the assay supernatant.
Under stimulated conditions, untreated HIV-infected patients with a CD4(+) count >350/μL had similar interleukin-2 (IL-2) levels in the supernatant of the whole-blood incubation to HIV-infected patients on HAART with a low CD4(+) count. Both groups revealed lower IL-2 levels in the supernatant than HIV-infected patients on HAART and with a CD4(+) count >350/μL or healthy volunteers. The determination of interferon-γ and tumour necrosis factor-α in the supernatant showed a similar arrangement of cytokines between groups.
Our results suggest that this cytokine release assay could be a suitable tool to mirror the immunological responsiveness of patients with HIV infection in a gradual manner; further studies are required in order to assess its value in HAART monitoring.
检测一种新的基于全血细胞因子释放的体外检测方法，用于监测人类免疫缺陷病毒（HIV）感染患者的免疫变化。
在一家大型学术医院对 9 例 HIV 感染门诊患者进行了一项初步研究，这些患者分为三组：接受高效抗逆转录病毒治疗（HAART）的 HIV 感染患者，CD4+细胞计数>350/μL（I 组）或 CD4+细胞计数<350/μL（II 组）；CD4+细胞计数>350/μL 的初治 HIV 感染 HAART 患者（III 组）。所有组均与健康志愿者（n=3）进行比较。体外细胞因子释放检测采用三步法进行：（1）采血；（2）全血在体外孵育 48 小时，不添加或添加一组标准的、定义明确的回忆抗原，与以前用于皮肤迟发型超敏反应（DTH）试验的抗原类似；（3）从检测上清液中测定细胞因子。
未经治疗的 CD4+计数>350/μL 的 HIV 感染患者在全血孵育上清液中的白细胞介素-2（IL-2）水平与 CD4+计数较低的接受 HAART 的 HIV 感染患者相似。两组患者的上清液中 IL-2 水平均低于接受 HAART 治疗且 CD4+计数>350/μL 的 HIV 感染患者或健康志愿者。上清液中干扰素-γ和肿瘤坏死因子-α的测定显示，各组细胞因子的排列相似。
我们的结果表明，这种细胞因子释放检测方法可以作为一种合适的工具，以逐步反映 HIV 感染患者的免疫反应性；需要进一步研究以评估其在 HAART 监测中的价值。
