Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Aug 1;34(10):1467-1473.
doi: 10.1097/QAD.0000000000002574.

High abundance of genus Prevotella is associated with dysregulation of IFN-I and T cell response in HIV-1-infected patients

Claudia Pinacchio  1 , Carolina Scagnolari  2 , Valerio Iebba  3   4 , Letizia Santinelli  1 , Giuseppe P Innocenti  1 , Federica Frasca  2 , Camilla Bitossi  2 , Mirko Scordio  2 , Giuseppe Oliveto  2 , Giancarlo Ceccarelli  1 , Guido Antonelli  2   5 , Claudio Maria Mastroianni  1 , Gabriella d'Ettorre  1
Affiliations

High abundance of genus Prevotella is associated with dysregulation of IFN-I and T cell response in HIV-1-infected patients

Claudia Pinacchio et al. AIDS. .

Abstract

Objective: HIV-1-associated dysbiosis is most commonly characterized by overall decreased diversity, with abundance of the genus Prevotella, recently related to inflammatory responses.

Design: A pilot study including 10 antiretroviral therapy-treated HIV-1-infected men and 50 uninfected controls was performed to identify the main gut dysbiosis determinants (e.g. Prevotella enrichment), that may affect mucosal antiviral defenses and T cell immunity in HIV-1-infected individuals.

Methods: 16rRNA gene sequencing was applied to the HIV-1-infected individuals' fecal microbiota and compared with controls. Measurements of CD4 and CD8 T cell activation [CD38, human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DR, CD38 HLA-DR] and frequencies of Th17, obtained from lamina propria lymphocytes isolated from five different intestinal sites, were performed by flow cytometry. IFNβ, IFNAR1 and MxA gene expression level was evaluated by real-time PCR in lamina propria lymphocytes. Nonparametric t tests were used for statistical analysis.

Results: HIV-1-infected men had a significant fecal microbial communities' imbalance, including different levels of genera Faecalibacterium, Prevotella, Alistipes and Bacteroides, compared with controls. Notably, Prevotella abundance positively correlated with frequencies of CD4 T cells expressing CD38 or HLA-DR and coexpressing CD38 and HLA-DR (P < 0.05 for all these measures). The same trend was observed for the activated CD8 T cells. Moreover, Prevotella levels were inversely correlated with IFN-I genes (P < 0.05 for IFNβ, IFNAR1 and MxA genes) and the frequencies of Th17 cells (P < 0.05). By contrast, no statistically significant correlations were observed for the remaining bacterial genera.

Conclusion: Our findings suggest that Prevotella enrichment might affect gut mucosal IFN-I pathways and T cell response in HIV-1-infected patients, thus contributing to immune dysfunction.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Dillon SM, Frank DN, Wilson CC. The gut microbiome and HIV-1 pathogenesis: a two-way street. AIDS 2016; 30:2737–2751.
    1. Nowak P, Troseid M, Avershina E, Barqasho B, Neogi U, Holm K, et al. Gut microbiota diversity predicts immune status in HIV-1 infection. AIDS 2015; 29:2409–2418.
    1. Vujkovic-Cvijin I, Dunham RM, Iwai S, Maher MC, Albright RG, Broadhurst MJ, et al. Dysbiosis of the gut microbiota is associated with HIV disease progression and tryptophan catabolism. Sci Transl Med 2013; 5:193ra191.
    1. Mutlu EA, Keshavarzian A, Losurdo J, Swanson G, Siewe B, Forsyth C, et al. A compositional look at the human gastrointestinal microbiome and immune activation parameters in HIV infected subjects. PLoS Pathog 2014; 10:e1003829.
    1. Lozupone CA, Li M, Campbell TB, Flores SC, Linderman D, Gebert MJ, et al. Alterations in the gut microbiota associated with HIV-1 infection. Cell Host Microbe 2013; 14:329–339.

Publication types