Impairment of CD1d-restricted Natural Killer T cells in chronic HIV-1 clade C infection
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Date
2010Author
Mureithi, Marianne W.
Cohen, Kristen
Moodley, Ramona
Poole, Danielle
Mncube, Zenele
Kasmar, Anne
Moody, D. Branch
Goulder, Philip J.R.
Walker, Bruce D.
Altfeld, Marcus
Ndung’u, Thumbi
Type
ArticleLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Recent studies suggest that Natural Killer T (NKT) cells play a role in early antiviral pathogenesis and have
been shown to play a critical role in protective immunity to many infections observed in immunocompromised
individuals, including mycobacterium tuberculosis. NKT cells are rapidly depleted in chronic
human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) clade B infection and no known studies to date have yet
assessed the impact of HIV-1 infection on NKT cell number and function in sub-Saharan Africa where HIV-
1 clade C is the predominant subtype. We aimed to characterize the phenotypic and functional characteristics
of NKT cells in HIV-1 clade C-infected Africans at different stages of HIV-1 disease. We observed a
significant decline of NKT cell numbers in advanced HIV-1 disease as well as activation and functional
impairment of NKT cells in individuals with low CD4 T cell counts. The loss of NKT cells was largely
driven by a reduction in the CD4+ and CD4negCD8neg NKT cell subsets in advanced disease. Overall, we
demonstrated significant impairment of the NKT cell compartment in progressive HIV-1 clade C disease that
might play an important role in the modulation of immune function in HIV-1 infection
Citation
AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses. 2010 Oct 14.Collections
- Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) [10377]