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. 2011 Apr;9(3):148-53.
doi: 10.2174/157016211795945296.

HIV persistence in the gut mucosa of HIV-infected subjects undergoing antiretroviral therapy correlates with immune activation and increased levels of LPS

Gabriella d'Ettorre  1 , Mirko Paiardini, Lorenzo Zaffiri, Mauro Andreotti, Giancarlo Ceccarelli, Cecilia Rizza, Marileda Indinnimeo, Stefano Vella, Claudio M Mastroianni, Guido Silvestri, Vincenzo Vullo
Affiliations

HIV persistence in the gut mucosa of HIV-infected subjects undergoing antiretroviral therapy correlates with immune activation and increased levels of LPS

Gabriella d'Ettorre et al. Curr HIV Res. 2011 Apr.

Abstract

We investigated the relationship between viral persistence in the gut, microbial translocation, and T cell activation during chronic HIV infection. Plasma levels of LPS, fraction of circulating CD8+CD38+ T cells, and levels of HIV-DNA in rectosigmoid biopsies and peripheral blood mononuclear cells were determined in 22 HIV-infected individuals and 10 healthy controls. We found that in untreated HIV-infected individuals, HIV-DNA load was higher in the gut mucosa than in the blood. Also, ART-treated patients exhibited lower levels of LPS and CD8+CD38+ T cells than untreated patients, but higher levels than controls. In ART-treated individuals, the level of HIV-DNA in the gut correlated with levels of LPS and fraction of CD8+CD38+ T cells. We concluded that in ART-treated individuals, higher levels of gut-associated HIV-DNA are associated with persistent immune activation and microbial translocation.

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