Mechanisms of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) escape from the immune response during primary infection.
Int Conf AIDS 1996 Jul 7-12; 11:12 (abstract no. We.A.381) Pantaleo G, Soudeyns H, Demarest, Schacker T, Vaccarezza, Cohen OJ, Daucher M, Graziosi C, Schnittman SS, Quinn T, Shaw GM, Perrin L, Tambussi G, Lazzarin A, Sekaly RP, Corey L, Fauci AS; NIAID, National Institute of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA. Fax: 301-402-0070.
Downregulation of the initial burst of viremia during primary human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is thought to be mediated predominantly by HIV-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL), and the appearance of this response is associated with major perturbations of the T cell receptor (TCR) repertoire. Changes in the TCR repertoire and in the distribution of virus-specific CTL in blood and lymph node were analyzed in patients with primary infection in order to understand the failure of the cellular immune response to control viral spread and replication. A significant number of HIV-specific T cell clones involved in the primary immune response rapidly disappeared in the absence of mutations in the virus epitopes recognized by these clones. Furthermore, HIV-specific CTL accumulated in blood as opposed to lymph node despite high viremia and intense virus replication in lymph node. Of interest, it has also been demonstrated that qualitative differences in the primary immune response to HIV, but not quantitative differences in the initial levels of viremia are associated with different clinical outcomes. These findings should provide new insights into how HIV, and possibly other viruses, elude the host immune response during primary infection, and a better understanding of protective versus non-protective immune responses.
Keywords: AEGIS, HIV, Viremia, HIV Infections, T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic, HIV Antigens, HIV Antibodies, Virus Replication, Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, HIV Envelope Protein gp41, HIV Envelope Protein gp160, HIV Envelope Protein gp120, Antigen Presentation, Immunity, Lymph Nodes, HIV Seropositivity, Human, virology, immunology, ICA11
