期刊名称：Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
印刷版ISSN：0027-8424
电子版ISSN：1091-6490
出版年度：2003
卷号：100
期号：10
页码：6057-6062
DOI：10.1073/pnas.0730819100
语种：English
出版社：The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要：HIV infection induces a wide array of B cell dysfunctions. We have characterized the effect of plasma viremia on the responsiveness of B cells to CD4+ T cell help in HIV-infected patients. In HIV-negative donors, B cell proliferation correlated with CD154 expression on activated CD4+ T cells and with the availability of IL-2, whereas in HIV-infected viremic patients, reduced B cell proliferation was observed despite normal CD154 expression on activated CD4+ T cells. Reduced triggering of B cells by activated CD4+ T cells was clearly observed in HIV-infected viremic patients compared with aviremic patients with comparable CD4+ T cell counts, and a dramatic improvement in B cell function was observed in patients whose plasma viremia was controlled by effective antiretroviral therapy. The degree of B cell dysfunction in viremic patients correlated strongly with the inability of B cells to express CD25 in response to activated CD4+ T cells, resulting in an inability to mount a normal proliferative response to IL-2. Similar defects in responsiveness to IL-2 were observed in the B cells of HIV-infected viremic patients in the context of B cell receptor stimulation. These data provide new insight into the mechanisms associated with ineffective humoral responses in HIV disease.
