Early activation and proliferation of T cells in simian immunodeficiency virus-infected rhesus monkeys

To longitudinally determine T cell activation and turnover in early simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infection of macaques, immunological and virol ogical parameters were monitored in 10 SIV-infected animals starting before infection until 40 weeks postinfection (wpi). Lymphocyte subsets in blood and lymph nodes (LNs) were characterized by three-color flow cytometry for expression of markers of activation, proliferation, and differentiation. As early as 1 wpi, CD69 expression was upregulated both on CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells, indicative of an early activation of these cells, Whereas this act ivation led to increased proliferation, determined by expression of Ki-67, and absolute numbers of CD8+ T cells, CD4+ T cells showed a decreased expre ssion of Ki-67 and reduced counts in blood at 2 wpi. Later, the percentage of Ki-67-expressing CD4(+) T cells in blood and LNs increased again above p reinfection levels in most animals but remained low in two monkeys progress ing to AIDS. These findings suggest that T cells are activated after SIV in fection, leading to increased T cell proliferation already in the early asy mptomatic phase. In addition, we found a correlation between the capacity t o regenerate CD4(+) T cells by peripheral proliferation and the disease cou rse. Moreover, our data indicate that the increased peripheral T cell proli feration during immunodeficiency virus infection is probably not caused by the effort of the immune system to maintain T cell homeostasis but may be a reflection of the ongoing immune response against the virus.