RESEARCH ARTICLE
Modulation of Regulatory T-Cell Subsets in Very Long-Term Treated Aviremic HIV+ Patients and Untreated Viremic Patients
Federico Serana 1, Marco Chiarini 1, Eugenia Quiros-Roldan 2, Daria Gotti 2, Cinzia Zanotti 1, Alessandra Sottini 1, Diego Bertoli 1, Luigi Caimi 1, Luisa Imberti*, 1
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2014Volume: 8
First Page: 1
Last Page: 6
Publisher ID: TOAIDJ-8-1
DOI: 10.2174/1874613601408010001
Article History:
Received Date: 13/8/2013Revision Received Date: 9/1/2014
Acceptance Date: 10/1/2014
Electronic publication date: 7/2/2014
Collection year: 2014
open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.
Abstract
Naïve, central- and effector-like memory regulatory T cells (Tregs) were evaluated in untreated and long-term antiretroviral-treated HIV+ patients that showed comparable CD4+ cell levels, while being, respectively, viremic and aviremic. In the untreated patients, the percentage of naïve-like Tregs was significantly increased to the detriment of central memory regulatory T cells. This redistribution of regulatory Treg subsets may contribute to explain the partially preserved CD4+ cell counts seen in these patients despite the ongoing viremia. On the contrary, in the long-term treated patients, the percentages of Treg subsets were similar to those of healthy donors, demonstrating a restored Treg homeostasis. The characterization of Treg subsets, rather than an evaluation of the total Treg population, may lead to a deeper understanding of the Treg role in HIV infection and therapy.
