Important note: Information in this article was accurate in July 2002. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.AIDSWEEKLY Plus; July 8, 2002
Michael Greer, Senior Medical Writer
"HIV infection is associated with the progressive loss of CD4+ T cells through their destruction or decreased production," according to Daniel C. Douek and colleagues in the U.S., the U.K., and Israel.
Douek and the multicenter research group found that HIV is more likely to infect HIV-specific memory T cells than other CD4 cells.
HIV-specific CD4 cells contained a higher level of HIV genetic material than memory cells that did not target the virus, they said. This phenomenon was seen in cells from both acutely and chronically infected patients.
Moreover, HIV targeted virus-specific memory cells after emerging from reservoirs during latent infection. HIV-specific CD4 cells were more likely to become infected during antiretroviral treatment interruptions, study data showed.
This phenomenon may affect the safety and efficacy of structured antiretroviral treatment interruptions to reduce drug resistance and toxicity (HIV preferentially infects HIV-specific CD4+ T cells, Nature 2002 May 2;417(6884):95-8.
"This provides a potential mechanism to explain the loss of HIV-specific CD4+ T-cell responses, and consequently the loss of immunological control of HIV replication," Douek and colleagues concluded.
The corresponding author for this report is Daniel C. Douek, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Vaccine Research Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. E-mail: ddouek@mail.nih.gov.
Key points reported in this study include:
This article was prepared by AIDS Weekly editors from staff and other reports.
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