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Clinical and Vaccine Immunology, September 2007, p. 1196-1202, Vol. 14, No. 9
1071-412X/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/CVI.00488-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) gag Antigen-Specific T-Helper and Granule-Dependent CD8 T-Cell Activities in Exposed but Uninfected Heterosexual Partners of HIV Type 1-Infected Individuals in North India{triangledown}

Suresh Pallikkuth,1 Ajay Wanchu,1* Archana Bhatnagar,2 Ravinder Kaur Sachdeva,1 and Meera Sharma3

Department of Internal Medicine, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India,1 Department of Biochemistry, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India,2 Department of Medical Microbiology, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India3

Received 14 December 2006/ Returned for modification 23 February 2007/ Accepted 21 June 2007

Repeated exposure to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) does not always result in HIV infection, and several cohorts of HIV-exposed but uninfected (EU) individuals have been described. We studied T-helper and granule-dependent cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) activities in a group of 30 EU partners of HIV type 1 (HIV-1)-infected individuals. HIV-1-specific helper-T-cell activity was studied by measuring the levels of interleukin 2 (IL-2) produced by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and the granule-dependent CTL activity by measuring the intracellular levels of perforin and granzyme B expression in CD8+ T cells after stimulation with gag p24 antigen. Elevated IL-2 production by PBMCs after p24 stimulation occurred in EU individuals. The levels of perforin and granzyme B expression in CD8+ T cells were also higher among EU individuals than among healthy controls. HIV-specific helper-T-cell and granule-dependent CTL activities inversely correlated with the time since the last unprotected sexual exposure in these individuals. In our cohort, activation of T-helper and granule-dependent CTL activities against HIV might be due to unprotected sexual contact. These results indicate that HIV-1-specific T-cell responses could play a role in protection against acquiring infection in this cohort of EU individuals.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Internal Medicine, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh 160012, India. Phone: 91-172-2756678. Fax: 91-172-2744401. E-mail: awanchu{at}yahoo.com

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 3 July 2007.

Clinical and Vaccine Immunology, September 2007, p. 1196-1202, Vol. 14, No. 9
1071-412X/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/CVI.00488-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Cummings, J.-S., Cairo, C., Armstrong, C., Davis, C. E., Pauza, C. D. (2008). Impacts of HIV infection on V{gamma}2V{delta}2 T cell phenotype and function: a mechanism for reduced tumor immunity in AIDS. J. Leukoc. Biol. 84: 371-379 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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