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Objective To investigate the phenotypes and the HIV-1-specific T cell responses of KIR3DL1 positive CD8 cells in patients with early HIV-1 infection. Methods Fifty-six HIV-1 antibody negative individuals and thirty-two patients with early HIV-1 infection were enrolled in the study. Fluores-cence-activated cell sorting (FACS) was performed to detect the phenotypes of KIR3DL1 receptor expressed on the surface of CD8 cells. The levels of IFN-γwere measured by intracellular cytokine staining assay after the PBMCs were stimulated with an HIV-1 Gag peptide pool. Results The percentages of KIR3DL1+CD8 T cells in HIV-1 negative individuals and patients with early HIV-1 infection were 1. 45% (0. 12%-8. 4%) and 0. 82% (0. 14%-6. 14%), respectively, and there was no significant difference between them. The percentages of KIR3DL1+CD8 Temra cells in HIV-1 negative individuals and patients with early HIV-1 infec-tion were (4. 55±3. 84)% and (6. 71±8. 50)%, respectively, which were significantly higher than the per-centages of KIR3DL1+CD8 Tem cells, which were (0. 50±0. 59)% and (1. 18±1. 39)%, respectively (all P<0. 01). Moreover, the percentages of KIR3DL1+CD8 Tem cells in patients with early HIV-1 infection were higher than those in HIV-1 negative individuals (P=0. 001 2). The percentage of KIR3DL1+CD8 Temra cells was positively correlated with the HIV-1 viral load in patients with early HIV-1 infection ( rs=0. 576,P=0. 000 9). The percentages of KIR3DL1+CD8 Temra cells in HIV-1 patients, whose viral loads were larger than 4. 0log, were much higher than those in HIV-1 patients with viral loads less than 4. 0 log (P=0. 002). Additionally, the levels of IFN-γsecreted by KIR3DL1 positive CD8 cells were much lesser than those secreted by KIR3DL1 negative CD8 cells (P<0. 000 1). Conclusion The receptor of KIR3DL1 was mainly expressed on CD8 Temra cells in both HIV-1 negative subjects and patients with early HIV-1 infec-tion. High HIV-1 viremia was associated with the high percentage of KIR3DL1+CD8 Temra cells. The KIR3DL1 positive CD8 cells induced lower HIV-1-specific T cell responses.
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Objective To understand the dynamics of DC subsets in chronic HIV-infected patients during antiretroviral therapy (ART).Methods Seventeen treatment-naive chronic HIV-infected patients were enrolled in our study,and blood was collected at week 0,4,12,24,48 and 60 of ART.Additional 15 HIV-uninfected age-matched healthy adults and 15 long term non-progressors(LTNP) were recruited as controls.CD4+T cell counts and viral loads were examined routinely.The counts of DC subsets were measured by flow cytometry and IFN-α plasma levels were measured by ELISA.Data analysis was performed using SPSS version 16.0.Results ( 1 ) Before ART,mDC ( percentage and absolute count) in ⅢⅤ-infected group were significantly lower than those in healthy group and LTNP group,P＜0.001 in both groups.After 60 weeks of ART,mDC in HIV-infeeted group were significantly increased,and there were no significant differences compared with healthy controls and LTNP group.(2) pDC and IFN-α plasma levels remained relatively stable during ART,and similar to those in healthy controls and LTNP group.(3)Significant associations were found for DC subsets and CD4+ T cell counts before ART.mDC subsets at week 12,24,60 post ART were positively correlated with CD4+ T cell counts,and negntively correlated with virus load.Changes in mDC at week 8 post ART positively correlated with the changes in CD4+T cells at week 60 post ART,and negatively correlated with the changes in virus load at week 60 post ART.Conclusion The counts of mDC significantly reduced in HIV-infected patients,increased after ART,and positively correlated with CD4+ T cell counts.The findings suggest that mDC may play an important role in controlling HIV infection,mDC may serve as an early predictor for immune reconstitution in the initiation of ART.
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Objective To reconstruct the initiative procedure of HIV-1 reverse transcription in vitro and establish a methodology of assessing activity of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (RT) with real-time PCR Methods The tRNALys-3 gene was amplified from genome in healthy individuals through polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and then T7 transcription promoter was added in 5'-terminal of the tRNALys-3. The tRNA[Lys-3 cRNA product was obtained by applying T7 RNA polymerase through a transcription reaction. The 5'-LTR-PBS DNA was also obtained by transcription reaction from the HIV-1 infectious clone and inserted into pGEM-T easy vectors. 5'-LTR-PBS cRNA was obtained by applying SP6 RNA polymerase whose combining site was located in pGEM-T easy vectors. Then the two RNA samples was catalyzed by two kinds of standard reverse transcriptases (SuperScript Ⅲ and HIV-1 standard reverse transcriptase, respectively) and the cDNA was synthesised. The relative activity of RT was determined with the real-time PCR. Results The tRNALys-3 primer and the SP6-5'-LTR-PBS RNA were procured accurately, whose length were 93bp and 872 bp, respectively. After the following serial dilution of Super Script Ⅲ and HIV-1 standard reverse transeriptase:1 : 10, 1: 100, 1:1 000, 1:10 000, each step of reverse transcription process worked successfully. Real-time PCR results showed that Ct values of the two groups were 13.9, 18. 3, 20. 9, 24. 9 and 20. 4, 25. 5, 28. 7, 32. 5 respectively. Conclusion A novel real-time PCR method is developed to assay the RT activity directly through reconstructing the initiation of HIV reproduction, which may be helpful for clinical management, screening of new antiretroviral drugs, and drug resistance test.
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<p><b>OBJECTIVES</b>To observe the changes of serum interleukins (IL), T-lymphocyte subsets, and white blood cell (WBC) count in patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), and to investigate the relationship between injured immune function, immune response and disturbed immune adjustment in SARS patients.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The levels of serum IL-2, IL-10, IL-12 and T-lymphocyte subset counts were measured in 35 clinically diagnosed SARS patients by using enzyme linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA). The relationship between the measured results and WBC count was further analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The level of serum IL was increased to a great extent in the 35 SARS patients, and the levels of serum IL-2, IL-10 and IL-12 were 242.53 (92.69) pg/ml, 77.43 (63.37) pg/ml and 65.94 (43.21) pg/ml, respectively. The level of serum IL-2 increased markedly (P < 0.01). The peripheral blood CD(3)(+), CD(4)(+) and CD(8)(+) counts were lower than normal in 23 patients (67.7%), 26 patients (74.3%) and 15 patients (42.9%), respectively. The peripheral blood WBC counts were lower than 4.0 x 10(9)/L in 10 patients, and their CD(3)(+), CD(4)(+) and CD(8)(+) counts were 583.90 (315.58) x 10(6)/L, 272.00 (94.13) x 10(6)/L and 209.00 (72.21) x 10(6)/L, respectively. The peripheral blood WBC counts were (4.0 - 10.0) x 10(9)/L in 20 patients, and their CD(3)(+), CD(4)(+) and CD(8)(+) counts were 700.00 (502.96) x 10(6)/L, 347.00 (247.58) x 10(6)/L and 322.05 (228.47) x 10(6)/L, respectively. The peripheral blood WBC counts were higher than 10.0 x 10(9)/L in 5 patients, and their CD(3)(+), CD(4)(+) and CD(8)(+) counts were 1466.00 (630.86) x 10(6)/L, 783.00 (311.14) x 10(6)/L and 640.00 (294.40) x 10(6)/L, respectively. The decreased CD(3)(+), CD(4)(+) and CD(8)(+) counts were consistent with the decreased WBC counts. The level of IL in SARS patients was significantly higher than that in patients with chronic hepatitis B (P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The level of serum IL is closely related to cell immunity in SARS patients. The level of serum IL is increased evidently while CD(3)(+), CD(4)(+) and CD(8)(+) counts decrease. Both serum IL and CD are associated with injury of immune function, and thus they could be regarded as a monitoring index for judging the condition of SARS patients and prescribing immune therapy.</p>