Damaged intestinal epithelial integrity linked to microbial translocation in pathogenic simian immunodeficiency virus infections.

ABSTRACT: The chronic phase of HIV infection is marked by pathological activation of the immune system, the extent of which better predicts disease progression than either plasma viral load or CD4(+) T cell count. Recently, translocation of microbial products from the gastrointestinal tract has been proposed as an underlying cause of this immune activation, based on indirect evidence including the detection of microbial products and specific immune responses in the plasma of chronically HIV-infected humans or SIV-infected Asian macaques. We analyzed tissues from SIV-infected rhesus macaques (RMs) to provide direct in situ evidence for translocation of microbial constituents from the lumen of the intestine into the lamina propria and to draining and peripheral lymph nodes and liver, accompanied by lo

SUBMITTER: Estes JD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2924359 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature