HIV/AIDS Pathogenesis: Immune avidity determines HIV disease progression

AIDSWEEKLY Plus; Monday, August 28, 2006
Staff Medical Writers

According to a study from the Netherlands, "The great variability in the time between infection with HIV and the onset of AIDS has been the object of intense study. In the current work, we examine a mathematical model that focuses on the role of immune response variability between patients."

"We study the effect of variation in both the avidity and the breadth of the immune response on within-patient disease dynamics, viral setpoint and time to AIDS.

"We conclude that immune response variability can explain the observed variability in disease progression to a large extent," H.K. Altes and colleagues at the Netherlands National Institute of Public Health & the Environment said.

"It turns out that the avidity, more than the breadth of the immune response, determines disease progression," reported researchers, "and that the average avidity of the five best clones is a much better correlate for disease progression than the total number of clones responding."

"For the design of vaccines, this would suggest that, if given the choice between stimulating a broader, but average avidity response or a narrower high-avidity response, the latter option would yield better control of virus load and consequently slow down disease progression," Altes concluded.

Altes and colleagues published the results of their research in Proceedings of the Royal Society B - Biological Sciences (Role of avidity and breadth of the CD4 T cell response in progression to AIDS. Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci, 2006;273(1594):1697-1704).

For additional information, contact H.K. Altes, National Institute Public Health & Environment, Center Infectious Disease Epidemiology, POB 1, NL-3720 BA Bilthoven, Netherlands.

The publisher of the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B - Biological Sciences can be contacted at: Royal Society, 6-9 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5AG, England.

Keywords: BA Bilthoven, Netherlands, HIV/AIDS, Disease Progression, Immune Avidity, Immune Response Variability, Viral Load.

This article was prepared by AIDS Weekly editors from staff and other reports.

2006-08-28
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