Cellular immune responses of schistosomiasis patients are altered by humanimmunodeficiency virus type 1 coinfection

In vitro studies suggest that CD4(+) cells with a T helper 2 (Th2) phenotyp e better support human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) replication th an do cells of the Th1 phenotype. As a result, Th2-type immune responses ma y be substantially affected by HIV-1 coinfection. To test this hypothesis, a comparison was done of proliferation and cytokine production by periphera l blood mononuclear cells from patients with schistosomiasis who were posit ive or negative for HIV-1. Patients with schistosomiasis with HIV-1 coinfec tions had significantly lower interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-10 production than did HIV-1-negative individuals. In contrast, interferon-gamma production le vels were similar between the 2 groups. Furthermore, in patients with HIV-1 , a decrease in CD4(+) T cells was correlated with an increased Th1: Th2 cy tokine production ratio. The effect of praziquantel treatment on proliferat ion and cytokine responses also differed between HIV-1 infection groups. Th us, HIV-1 infection affects immune response patterns of patients with schis tosomiasis.