C. Brostrom et al., LOW RELATIVE FREQUENCIES OF CD26(-TERM NONPROGRESSING HUMAN-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-VIRUS TYPE 1-INFECTED SUBJECTS() CD4(+) CELLS IN LONG), Clinical and diagnostic laboratory immunology, 5(5), 1998, pp. 662-666
A broad antibody panel was used for immunophenotyping of human immunod
eficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)-infected patients who were long-term no
nprogressors (LTNP). The LTNP were compared with patients in the early
phase of infection and patients who had progressed to advanced immuno
deficiency. Changes in CD8(+) subset distribution were observed mainly
at acquisition of HIV-1 infection, whereas CD4(+) subset changes appe
ared during progression of HIV-1 infection. The decreasing levels of C
D4(+) cells were characterized by an increasing frequency of cells exp
ressing the activation markers HLA-Dr and CD45RO but not the CD28 surf
ace antigen. The LTNP exhibited significant changes compared to HIV-ne
gative patients in almost all markers. Compared to patients in the ear
ly phase of infection, the only difference was a relatively lower freq
uency of CD4(+) cells expressing CD26 among the LTNP. The results show
that HIV-l-infected persons who have no signs of immunodeficiency des
pite many years of infection have an immunophenotypic pattern that is
substantially different from that of noninfected persons. Despite the
long duration of infection, the LTNP exhibit a pattern similar to that
of newly infected persons, with the exception of lower expression of
CD26 on CD4(+) cells.