INCREASE IN V-DELTA-1(-DELTA T-CELLS IN THE PERIPHERAL-BLOOD AND BONE-MARROW AS A SELECTIVE FEATURE OF HIV-1 BUT NOT OTHER VIRUS-INFECTIONS() GAMMA)

Dysregulation of T-cell receptor (TCR) alpha beta bearing lymphocytes and an increase in V delta 1(+) gamma delta T cells are typical featur es of HIV-1 infection. However, the role of gamma delta T cells remain s unclear. Therefore, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of 103 HIV-l-infected patients were investigated with respect to expression of V delta 1. These results were compared to the V delta 1 expression of bone marrow mononuclear cells (BMMC). In contrast to healthy contro ls, V delta 1(+) cells dominated among both PBMC and BMMC in HIV-1-inf ected patients. Analysis of the coexpression of CD25, CD8, HLA-DR and CD45RO revealed a high prevalence of V delta 1/CD45RO and V delta 1/HL A-DR double-positive PBMC only in HIV-l-infected patients but not in h ealthy donors. Furthermore, analysis of the gamma delta TCR repertoire in patients infected with hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, herpe s simplex virus (HSV)-1 and HSV-2 showed that the selective enhancemen t of V delta 1(+) cells was restricted to HIV infection and not observ ed in other virus diseases. Our data provide further support for the i nvolvement of gamma delta T cells in immunosuppression and progression of HIV infection.