Wm. Williams et al., CORRELATION BETWEEN EXPRESSION OF ANTIBODIES TO HISTONE H2B AND CLINICAL ACTIVITY IN HIV-INFECTED INDIVIDUALS, Clinical and experimental immunology, 104(1), 1996, pp. 18-24
Levels of autoantibodies specific for the histone, H2B, were measured
in individuals with HIV infection. In comparison with normal (uninfect
ed) controls, infected patients, particularly those with symptomatic d
isease, had significantly elevated titres of anti-H2B antibodies. Long
itudinal studies confirmed that levels of these antibodies were highes
t in patients with lymphadenopathy and declined with the development o
f AIDS. In preliminary experiments designed to determine the biologica
l significance of the anti-histone antibodies, H2B was shown to be imm
unologically crossreactive with an 18-kD antigen on the surface of HIV
-infected or mitogen-activated CD4(+) cells. Protein sequencing of the
18-kD antigen has since shown complete homology with histone H2B. Bec
ause the titres of H2B autoantibodies were found to parallel the numbe
rs of circulating CD4 cells, it is possible that these antibodies are
involved in the destruction of the helper/inducer T lymphocyte populat
ion.