Polyclonal B cell differentiation and loss of gastrointestinal tract germinal centers in the earliest stages of HIV-1 infection.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The antibody response to HIV-1 does not appear in the plasma until approximately 2-5 weeks after transmission, and neutralizing antibodies to autologous HIV-1 generally do not become detectable until 12 weeks or more after transmission. Moreover, levels of HIV-1-specific antibodies decline on antiretroviral treatment. The mechanisms of this delay in the appearance of anti-HIV-1 antibodies and of their subsequent rapid decline are not known. While the effect of HIV-1 on depletion of gut CD4(+) T cells in acute HIV-1 infection is well described, we studied blood and tissue B cells soon after infection to determine the effect of early HIV-1 on these cells.

Methods and findings

In human participants, we analyzed B cells in blood as early as 17 days after HIV-1 infecti

SUBMITTER: Levesque MC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2702159 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature