Dendritic cell frequency and stimulated cytokine production among Majengo commercial sex workers

Abstract

Background: Investigation was carried out to determine frequencies of dendritic cells and stimulation responses of peripheral blood mononuclear cells of female sex workers in the Majengo cohort in Nairobi, Kenya. Methods: Blood samples from female commercial sex workers were investigated to determine frequencies of dendritic cells in peripheral circulation and their responses to different tolllike receptor ligands. Stimulation responses leading to cytokine production and cell proliferation were measured using flow-cytometric analysis. Results: From the study: We enrolled thirty two (n=32) female commercial sex workers and used their blood to determine the frequencies of dendritic cells, we also screened them for HIV-1 antibodies. From this analysis, there was significant reduction in both plasmocytoid and myeloid dendritic cell in HIV infected females compared to HIV non infected females. Similarly, there was reduced proliferation capacity of dendritic cells in HIV infected female compared to HIV negatives. Conclusion: Our study showed a significant decrease in circulating dendritic cells in patients infected with HIV-l, a reduced proliferation capacity, as well as reduced type I cytokine responses leading to low production of IFN-y production upon stimulation with TLR ligands. This may lead to poor outcome of antiretroviral therapy since the IFN-y cytokine is an important antiviral agent that lead to anti-retroviral activity in patients and hence its reduced production may lead to poor prognosis in HIV infected patients.