Frequency of Effector Memory Cells Expressing Integrin α4β7 Is Associated With TGF-β1 Levels in Therapy Naïve HIV Infected Women With Low CD4+ T Cell Count.
Integrin α4β7 expressing CD4+ T cells are preferred targets for HIV infection and are thought to be predictors of disease progression. Concurrent analysis of integrin α4β7 expressing innate and adaptive immune cells was carried out in antiretroviral (ART) therapy naïve HIV infected women in order to determine its contribution to HIV induced immune dysfunction. Our results demonstrate a HIV infection associated decrease in the frequency of integrin α4β7 expressing endocervical T cells along with an increase in the frequency of integrin α4β7 expressing peripheral monocytes and central memory CD4+ T cells, which are considered to be viral reservoirs. We report for the first time an increase in levels of soluble MAdCAM-1 (sMAdCAM-1) in HIV infected individuals as well as an increased frequency and count of integrin   CD8+ memory T cells. Correlation analysis indicates that the frequency of effector memory CD8+ T cells expressing integrin α4β7 is associated with levels of both sMAdCAM-1 and TGF-β1. The results of this study also suggest HIV induced alterations in T cell homeostasis to be on account of disparate actions of sMAdCAM-1 and TGF-β1 on integrin α4β7 expressing T cells. The immune correlates identified in this study warrant further investigation to determine their utility in monitoring disease progression.
['Kasarpalkar|Nandini J|NJ|', 'Bhowmick|Shilpa|S|', 'Patel|Vainav|V|', 'Savardekar|Lalita|L|', 'Agrawal|Sachee|S|', 'Shastri|Jayanthi|J|', 'Bhor|Vikrant M|VM|']
D000293:Adolescent D000328:Adult D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules D018450:Disease Progression D005260:Female D015658:HIV Infections D015497:HIV-1 D006801:Humans D016023:Integrins D018655:Lymphocyte Count D008875:Middle Aged D009088:Mucoproteins D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1 D055815:Young Adult
effector memory cells integrin α4β7 TGF-β1 HIV soluble MAdCAM-1