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Clinical and Vaccine Immunology, January 2006, p. 26-32, Vol. 13, No. 1
1071-412X/06/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/CVI.13.1.26-32.2006
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Cellular Immune Responses in Asymptomatic Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 (HIV-1) Infection and Effects of Vaccination with Recombinant Envelope Glycoprotein of HIV-1
Geoffrey J. Gorse,1,2*
Ramona E. Simionescu,2,
and
Gira B. Patel2
Veterans Affairs Medical Center,1
Saint Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri2
Received 27 June 2005/
Returned for modification 31 August 2005/
Accepted 18 October 2005
 |
ABSTRACT
|
|---|
Effects of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) recombinant envelope
glycoprotein vaccines on cell-mediated immune (CMI) responses were
assessed in HIV-1-infected patients. Asymptomatic,
antiretroviral-treatment-naïve, HIV-1-infected patients with
CD4+ T-cell counts greater than 400/µl
received multiple intramuscular injections of HIV-1 IIIB recombinant
envelope glycoprotein (rgp160) vaccine or HIV-1 MN recombinant envelope
glycoprotein (rgp120) vaccine (eight patients, referred to as the HIV-1
vaccinees) or placebo or hepatitis B vaccine (three patients, referred
to as the controls). Lymphocyte proliferation in response to HIV-1
envelope glycoproteins, both homologous and heterologous to the HIV-1
immunogens, was absent prior to study treatment in all patients but
increased significantly during the vaccination series and after the
final vaccination in HIV-1 vaccinees (P < 0.05) and
remained absent in control patients. In flow cytometric analyses of
intracellular cytokines, T-cell receptor stimulation with an anti-CD3
antibody induced gamma interferon (IFN-
) expression by
activated CD4+ and CD8+
lymphocytes at greater frequencies than did stimulation with
recombinant envelope glycoprotein and p24 of HIV-1 (P
< 0.05). Mean frequencies of HIV-1 envelope
glycoprotein-stimulated, activated intracellularIFN-
-producing CD4+ and
CD8+ lymphocytes and of interleukin-2-producing
CD4+ lymphocytes did not increase after vaccination,
but cytokine-producing cells were detectable in some patients.
Comparing pre- to post-HIV-1 vaccination time points, changes in
frequencies of activated, IFN-
-producing
CD4+ cells correlated inversely with changes in
lymphocyte proliferation in response to recombinant envelope
glycoprotein in HIV-1 vaccinees (P < 0.05). Increased
CMI responses to HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein measured by lymphocyte
proliferation were associated with HIV-1 recombinant envelope
glycoprotein
vaccines.
 |
INTRODUCTION
|
|---|
Therapeutic vaccination of human immunodeficiency virus type
1 (HIV-1)-infected patients has been evaluated with the goals of
improving cell-mediated immunity through enhancing
CD4+ T-cell responses and providing help to maintain
CD8+ T-cell responses
(4,
7,
14,
15,
23,
25,
26,
27,
28,
30,
31,
33). Poor lymphocyte
proliferative responses to stimulation with HIV-1 antigens have been
associated with progression of HIV-1 disease, lower
CD4+ T-cell counts, and higher viral loads
(4,
14,
28,
32). Lymphocyte
proliferation in response to HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein has been
enhanced by vaccination with HIV-1 recombinant envelope glycoprotein
vaccines in some, but not all, clinical trials; however, no clear
clinical benefit from vaccination has been demonstrated
(4,
7,
23,
25,
26,
28,
30,
31,
33).
Quantitative
CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell responses
following vaccination with HIV-1 recombinant envelope glycoprotein
vaccines have received little attention. Ascertainment of frequencies
of CD4+ and CD8+ cells that are
responsive to antigenic and nonantigenic stimuli before and after
vaccination may be an important adjunct to assessment of
CD4+ helper cell responses by the
lymphoproliferative assay. Our goal was to put the lymphocyte
proliferative responses to vaccination in better perspective by also
measuring frequencies of interleukin-2 (IL-2)- and gamma interferon
(IFN-
)-producing CD4+ cells and
IFN-
-producing CD8+ cells in a pilot
evaluation. Elaboration of these Th1 cytokines by
CD4+ cells may provide some degree of assurance that
enhanced lymphocyte proliferation following vaccination reflects a
salutary immune benefit, since Th1 responses might be expected to
sustain effector CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes, which
in turn produce IFN-
and play a role in chronic control of
viremia (15,
27). No assessment of
possible clinical benefit of vaccination was done in our
study.
 |
MATERIALS AND METHODS
|
|---|
Subjects and study treatments.
Eleven
HIV-1-infected subjects, who participated at Saint Louis University
after giving informed consent in one of two multicenter, institutional
review board-approved clinical trials sponsored by the AIDS Vaccine
Evaluation Group (AVEG protocols 101 and 104), were assessed for
cell-mediated immune responses before and after vaccination. Selection
for these laboratory studies was based on availability of cryopreserved
peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) for analysis.
Eight
subjects were enrolled in AVEG protocol 101 in 1992; they were
asymptomatic HIV-1-infected patients who had mean
CD4+ T-cell counts of at least 600/µl at
entry, had no history of a condition that met the definition for AIDS,
and had received no antiretroviral chemotherapy in the previous 6
months. Subjects enrolled in AVEG protocol 101 received study
injections in the deltoid muscle monthly between study days 0 and 140.
The HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein vaccine was recombinant HIV-1 IIIB
gp160 (rgp160 IIIB) that had been produced in Vero tissue culture cells
using recombinant vaccinia virus as described elsewhere
(1,
2), formulated with
aluminum hydroxide and deoxycholate adjuvant (IMMUNO-AG, Vienna,
Austria), and given at 50 µg per injection dose. Of five
recipients of the HIV-1 vaccine, three received six injections of
rgp160 IIIB vaccine at monthly intervals and two received three
injections of rgp160 IIIB vaccine at monthly intervals followed by two
adjuvant placebo injections at monthly intervals and a final injection
of rgp160 IIIB vaccine at day 140. Of the three control subjects, one
received six injections of adjuvant placebo at monthly intervals and
two received three monthly injections of hepatitis B virus vaccine
(Engerix; Smith Kline and French, Philadelphia, PA) followed by two
monthly injections of adjuvant placebo and one injection of hepatitis B
virus vaccine at day 140. None of the subjects reported here received
antiretroviral chemotherapy during participation in AVEG protocol
101.
Three subjects were enrolled in AVEG protocol 104 in 1993
and 1994; they were asymptomatic HIV-1-infected women who had not
received antiretroviral chemotherapy prior to study entry and were
enrolled between the 16th and 24th week of pregnancy with baseline
CD4+ T-cell counts of at least 400/µl
(33). One of the three
received zidovudine later during pregnancy prior to delivery. Study
injections were given in the deltoid muscle at monthly intervals up to
five times and consisted of 300 µg of HIV-1 MN rgp120 (rgp120
MN) per injection dose in aluminum hydroxide adjuvant (Genentech, South
San Francisco, CA).
Clinical laboratory assessments.
CD4+ T-cell
counts were determined in blood obtained at the time of
study enrollment and at 19 to 23 months after the final study injection
for subjects enrolled in AVEG protocol 101 and at the time of delivery
for subjects enrolled in AVEG protocol 104. Plasma HIV-1 viral loads
were not determined.
PBMC.
PBMC were isolated from whole
heparinized blood by Ficoll-Paque (Pharmacia, Piscataway, NJ) density
gradient centrifugation at study time points specified below and were
cryopreserved as described previously
(5,
9) and stored in liquid
nitrogen for later use, after thawing, in lymphocyte proliferation and
intracellular cytokine detection
assays.
Lymphocyte proliferation assay.
Lymphocyte proliferation
assays using cryopreserved PBMC were performed at Saint Louis
University using a standard 7-day [3H]thymidine
incorporation assay (8,
9). We report results from
PBMC collected before the first study injection (prevaccination), 84
days after the first injection (during vaccination series), and either
168 days (n = 2) or 336 days (n = 6)
after the first study injection (postvaccination), for subjects
enrolled in AVEG protocol 101. We report results from PBMC collected
before the first study injection (prevaccination), 84 days after the
first study injection (during vaccination series), and at the time of
delivery, 4 to 6 months after the first study injection
(postvaccination), for subjects (n = 3) enrolled in
AVEG protocol 104. Cells from all three time points for each subject
were thawed and assayed together. Antigens used to stimulate PBMC in
vitro included Vero cell-expressed rgp160 IIIB (IMMUNO-AG) at 1
µg/ml, CHO cell-expressed rgp120 MN (Genentech, Inc.) at 1
µg/ml, baculovirus-expressed HIV-1 MN rgp160 (rgp160 MN;
Protein Sciences, Meriden, CT) at 1 µg/ml, and tetanus toxoid
concentrate (Connaught Laboratories, Ltd., Toronto, Ontario, Canada) at
2.5 limit-of-flocculation units/ml. Phytohemagglutinin-P
(PHA; Sigma, St. Louis, MO) was used for mitogenic stimulation of PBMC
at either 1 or 5 µg/ml. Results were expressed as
cpm
(calculated as mean counts per minute of stimulated cell cultures minus
mean counts per minute of medium control cell cultures) and as the
stimulation index (SI), calculated as the ratio of the mean counts per
minute of stimulated cell cultures to the mean counts per minute of
medium control cell
cultures.
Intracellular cytokine assay.
Flow cytometry was
performed to detect intracellular cytokines expressed by activated
CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocytes in PBMC
that had been collected and cryopreserved before the first study
injection and 19 to 23 months after the final study injection for
subjects enrolled in AVEG protocol 101 and 0 to 3 months after delivery
for subjects enrolled in AVEG protocol 104. Cells were not available
for flow cytometric analysis at other study time points. PBMC from both
time points for each subject were assayed simultaneously. Cells were
thawed, washed, suspended at 2 x 106 to 4 x
106 per ml in RPMI medium supplemented with 40% autologous
plasma, and either left unstimulated in medium with 40% autologous
plasma or stimulated with either baculovirus-expressed rgp160 MN
(Protein Sciences) at 1 µg/ml, baculovirus-expressed HIV-1 LAI
rp24 Gag (rp24; Protein Sciences) at 1 µg/ml, or a mouse
monoclonal antibody to CD3 (Immunotech/Coulter Co., Marseilles, France)
at 1 ng/ml. The manufacturer's procedures (FastImmune immunostaining
system; Becton Dickinson Immunocytometry Systems, San Jose, CA) for
cell activation, staining, and flow cytometric analysis were used as
described elsewhere (29).
One recombinant envelope glycoprotein antigen was chosen due to the
limitation in the number of cells for testing by flow cytometry. The
antigen chosen was able to induce lymphocyte proliferation in
recipients of either HIV-1 vaccine. Both stimulated and unstimulated
control cells were incubated with mouse monoclonal antibodies to CD28
and CD49d (Immunotech/Coulter Co.) at 1 µg/ml for 6 h
at 37°C under 5% CO2, and brefeldin A (Sigma) was
added at 10 µg/ml after the second hour to inhibit cytokine
secretion. EDTA was then added at 2 mM, and the cells were fixed in
formaldehyde. Cells were washed and incubated in a permeabilizing
solution (BD FACS; Becton Dickinson Immunocytometry Systems). After an
additional wash, about 4 x 105 cells were
distributed per tube for staining. Cell aliquots were stained for
intracellular and surface molecules with anti-IFN-
or
anti-IL-2 fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC), anti-CD69 phycoerythrin
(PE), and anti-CD4 or anti-CD8 PerCP-Cy5.5 mouse monoclonal antibodies
(BD FastImmune CD4 and CD8 Intracellular Cytokine Detection kit; Becton
Dickinson Biosciences Immunocytometry Systems). Isotype controls
consisted of permeabilized cells from each stimulation condition
stained with immunoglobulin G2a FITC and immunoglobulin G1
PE control mouse monoclonal antibodies and with anti-CD4 or anti-CD8
PerCP-Cy5.5 mouse monoclonal antibodies (BD FastImmune; Becton
Dickinson Immunocytometry Systems). After incubation for 30 min at room
temperature, the cells were washed and fixed in 1% (vol/vol)
paraformaldehyde for flow cytometric analysis.
Three-color flow
cytometric analysis was done by acquiring data using CELLQuest software
and a FACSCalibur flow cytometer (Becton Dickinson Immunocytometry
Systems). Cells were gated based on expected characteristics of
lymphocytes using forward and side scatter dot plots to exclude
monocytes. The anti-CD4 antibody was used to set an acquisition gate
for analysis of CD4+ cells, and in separate tubes
the anti-CD8 antibody was used to set an acquisition gate for analysis
of CD8+ cells. At least 20,000
CD4+ or CD8+ events were
collected using FL3 (PerCP-Cy5.5) as a fluorescent trigger for analysis
of intracellular cytokine and CD69 surface staining, displayed as
two-color dot plots of FL1 (FITC) versus FL2 (PE). The anti-CD69 PE
stain detected cell activation and allowed better clustering of
cytokine-positive cells to ensure that cells staining for intracellular
cytokines were activated. Percentages of CD4+ or
CD8+ cells staining positively for CD69 and those
double-positive for CD69 and either IFN-
or IL-2 minus the
staining by isotype controls are reported in the
results.
Statistical methods.
Arithmetic means of continuous
variables with standard errors of the means (SEM) are reported. A
two-sided Fisher exact test was used for 2-by-2 comparisons of
proportions. Means of paired data were compared using the Wilcoxon
matched-pairs test. Correlations between lymphocyte proliferation and
percentages of cells that were positive for CD69 and cytokines were
assessed with the Spearman rank order correlation
test.
 |
RESULTS
|
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Subjects and CD4+ T-cell counts.
PBMC from eight HIV-1
vaccine recipients (four male and four female) with a mean
age ± SEM of 28.8 ± 2.3 years and from three
control subjects (all male) with a mean age ± SEM of 32.3
± 5.6 years were available for assay. Mean
CD4+ T-cell counts ± SEM at pre- and
poststudy treatment injection time points for the eight HIV-1 vaccine
recipients were 952 ± 170 cells/µl and 915 ±
135 cells/µl, and for the three control subjects these values
were 802 ± 39 cells/µl and 666 ± 109
cells/µl.
Lymphocyte proliferation.
None of the
HIV-1 vaccine recipients or control subjects exhibited lymphocyte
proliferation in response to recombinant envelope glycoprotein antigens
(respective immunogen and baculovirus-expressed rgp160 MN) prior to
receiving study treatment injections (Table
1). The HIV-1 vaccine recipients had significant increases in mean
lymphocyte proliferative responses to recombinant envelope glycoprotein
antigens (respective immunogen and baculovirus-expressed rgp160 MN)
during the vaccination series and at the postvaccination time point,
but none of the control subjects had an SI of 3.0 or greater in
response to recombinant envelope glycoprotein antigens (Table
1). The sole recipient of
zidovudine therapy had an SI below 3.0 at all three time points to
recombinant envelope glycoprotein antigens despite receiving rgp120 MN
vaccine. Lymphocyte proliferative responses to tetanus toxoid antigen
and to PHA did not change between study time points (Table
1).
Flow cytometric analysis of cell activation and intracellular cytokine staining.
Figure
1 consists of representative two-color dot plots of gated
CD4+ and CD8+ cells showing
intracellular IFN-
and CD69 surface staining of cells obtained
from one study subject at the prevaccination time point.
CD69+ staining of unstimulated
CD4+ cells and, to a lesser extent,
CD8+ cells indicated T-cell activation either in
vivo or as a result of in vitro cell manipulations, or both (Tables
2 and
3). In vitro stimulation with an anti-CD3 antibody
increased the mean percentages of CD4+ and
CD8+ cells that stained CD69+
and both CD69+ and
IFN-
+ at the two study time points (Tables
2 and
3) (P <
0.05). The means of the percentages of CD4+ and
CD8+ cells that stained CD69+
IFN-
+ and of CD4+ cells
that were CD69+ IL-2+ did not
differ statistically between pre- and poststudy treatment injection
time points for each stimulation condition (Tables
2,
3, and
4). Cytokine responses declined from pre- to postvaccination time points
for the recipient of rgp120 MN vaccine who was also treated with
zidovudine.
The mean change in the percentage of
CD4+ cells that were CD69+
IFN-
+, subtracting pre- from poststudy
treatment injection time points, was higher under all stimulation
conditions among HIV-1 vaccine recipients than among control subjects
(mean change ± SEM for vaccinees [n = 7]
versus control subjects [n = 3], 2.9% ± 2.7%
versus 2.2% ± 2.8% for anti-CD3, 0.60% ± 0.80% versus
0.66% ± 0.38% for rgp160 MN, and 0.30%
± 0.54% versus 1.1% ± 1.1% for rp24;
P = not significant [NS] for each comparison). The
mean change in the percentage of CD4+ cells that
were CD69+ IL-2+, subtracting
pre- from poststudy treatment time points, was higher under all
stimulation conditions among HIV-1 vaccine recipients than among
control subjects (mean change ± SEM for vaccinees [n
= 7] versus control subjects [n = 3], 0.32%
± 1.5% versus 2.7% ± 5.2% for anti-CD3, 0.87%
± 1.0% versus 0.12% ± 0.63% for rgp160 MN, and 3.9%
± 3.7% versus 2.5% ± 2.1% for rp24; P
= NS for each comparison). While the IFN-
and IL-2
responses of CD4+ CD69+ cells may
have appeared to be better preserved among vaccine recipients than
among control subjects at the poststudy treatment injection time point,
no conclusions can be drawn, because the differences did not achieve
statistical significance.
Correlations between lymphocyte proliferation, cell activation and intracellular cytokine staining and between lymphocyte proliferation and cell activation among HIV-1 vaccine recipients.
The difference in the SI (
SI)
in response to stimulation with recombinant envelope glycoprotein,
subtracting prevaccination from postvaccination time points, was
negatively correlated with the change between time points in the
percentage of rgp160 MN-stimulated CD4+ cells that
were CD69+ IFN-
+
(r = 0.85 [P < 0.05] for
SI in response to HIV-1 immunogen and change in rgp160
MN-stimulated percentage of CD4+ cells that were
CD69+ IFN-
+; r
= 0.76
[P<0.05] for
SI in response to baculovirus-expressed rgp160 MN and change
in rgp160 MN-stimulated percentage of CD4+ cells
that were CD69+ IFN-
+)
but not with the changes between time points in the percentages of
rgp160 MN-stimulated CD4+ cells that were
CD69+ or CD69+
IL-2+ and of CD8+ cells that were
CD69+ or CD69+
IFN-
+.
 |
DISCUSSION
|
|---|
Vaccination
of asymptomatic HIV-1-infected patients with HIV-1 recombinant envelope
glycoprotein vaccines resulted in a significant increase in lymphocyte
proliferation in response to HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein in our study.
None of the patients had demonstrable lymphocyte proliferation in
response to HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein prior to the first study
treatment injection. Since lymphocyte proliferation in response to
tetanus toxoid and mitogen was detectable before and after study
treatment injections without any significant change, there was a
possible defect in lymphocyte proliferative capacity that was HIV-1
specific prior to vaccination.
Improved lymphocyte proliferation
in response to HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein and possibly non-HIV-1
antigens has been reported previously after vaccination with HIV-1
recombinant envelope glycoprotein vaccines for HIV-1-infected patients
in some, but not all, studies. There has been little evidence of
clinical benefit associated with vaccination, and effects of
vaccination on CD4+ T-cell trends and plasma HIV-1
viremia have been inferior to those of antiretroviral therapy
(4,
7,
23,
25,
26,
28,
30,
31,
33). Induction of new
lymphocyte proliferative responses by HIV-1 recombinant envelope
glycoprotein vaccines appeared to be associated with
CD4+ T-cell counts that were greater than 350
cells/mm3 at baseline and with low plasma HIV-1 loads in one
report (28). Positive
lymphocyte proliferative responses were associated with lower plasma
HIV-1 loads in a longitudinal study
(24) and with higher
pretreatment CD4+ T-cell counts and longer duration
of HIV-1 suppression in patients receiving highly active antiretroviral
therapy (16).
The
lymphocyte proliferation assay is qualitative but is a functional end
point that reflects a complex cellular immune response. It does not
necessarily reflect a quantitative per-cell measure of stimulation. The
lymphocyte proliferation assay depends on DNA replication and cell
division over the course of 7 days, and while it is antigen specific
and a reflection of a polyclonal CD4+ T-cell
response, it may in part be due to proliferation of
CD8+ T cells and non-antigen-specific bystander
cells in response to cytokines produced by cells responding to the in
vitro stimulus. CD4+ T cells that produce
IFN-
are detectable even in the absence of an in vitro
lymphocyte proliferative response, but it is the HIV-1-specific
lymphocyte proliferative response that has been linked to reduced HIV-1
load and maintenance of HIV-1-specific CD8+ T-cell
responses (3,
11,
13,
21). In particular, high
levels of lymphocyte proliferation in response to HIV-1 p24 Gag and
HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein have been inversely correlated with HIV-1
loads (18,
27).
An anti-CD3
antibody induced an increased frequency of IFN-
-producing
CD4+ and CD8+ cells compared to
no stimulation among subjects in our study, without statistical change
between the study time points. Anti-CD3 antibody provides a
non-antigen-specific stimulation of the T-cell receptor (TCR). Mean
proportions of IFN-
-producing CD4+ and
CD8+ cells after stimulation with HIV-1 antigens
were not significantly higher after HIV-1 vaccination. Mean
postvaccination changes in frequencies of IFN-
- and
IL-2-producing CD4+ cells compared to prevaccination
frequencies appeared higher among HIV-1 vaccine recipients than among
control subjects. Higher frequencies of cytokine-producing cells by
anti-CD3 stimulation of the TCR than by HIV-1 antigens may reflect
anergy of HIV-1 antigen-specific T cells. Suboptimal costimulatory
molecule usage is a possible factor that may be more important for
antigen-specific stimulation than the stronger TCR signal provided by
anti-CD3 (6). The response
to anti-CD3 antibody may also be due to polyclonal stimulation of both
naïve and memory CD4+ and
CD8+ cells.
When levels after HIV-1
vaccination were compared to those before vaccination, the change in
frequency of IFN-
-producing CD4+ cells in
response to HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein was negatively
correlated with the increased lymphocyte proliferative response to
envelope glycoprotein among HIV-1 vaccine recipients. This may reflect
relative stimulation of HIV-1-specific lymphocyte proliferation by the
HIV-1 vaccine over IFN-
production and a resultant lack of the
inhibiting effect of IFN-
on T-helper cell proliferation.
Similarly, lymphocyte proliferation in response to HIV-1 p24 Gag
antigen was not necessarily predictive of frequencies of
IFN-
-producing, anti-HIV-1 p24 Gag T cells
(20).
Before HIV-1
vaccination and at all time points among the control subjects, there
was a lack of demonstrable lymphocyte proliferation in response to
HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein, but CD4+ and
CD8+ cells capable of responding to HIV-1 antigen by
production of IL-2 and IFN-
were nonetheless present in some
patients. Uncoupling between lymphocyte proliferation and Th1
cytokine-producing memory, antigen-specific CD4+ T
cells has been noted previously in viremic HIV-1-infected patients,
possibly due to CD4+ T-cell dysfunction
(10,
17,
19,
22). Although not
measured, our patients likely were viremic. In addition to enhanced
HIV-1-specific lymphocyte proliferation, low viral load has been
associated with HIV-1-specific production of IFN-
and
chemokines such as macrophage inflammatory proteins that are known to
inhibit macrophage-tropic strains of HIV-1
(18,
27). Proliferation may
also be associated with inflammatory cytokines and non-Th1 responses to
antigen (12). Cytokines
not measured in our study may have been augmented along with lymphocyte
proliferation in response to HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein after
vaccination. Hence, some cells that proliferated in response to HIV-1
envelope glycoprotein may have had a cytokine repertoire that
did not include IL-2 and IFN-
.
In summary, vaccination
of asymptomatic HIV-1-infected patients with HIV-1 recombinant envelope
glycoprotein vaccines was associated with new lymphocyte proliferative
responses to envelope glycoprotein. There was no statistically
significant increase in the frequency of in vitro-stimulated IL-2- or
IFN-
-producing cells after study treatment. There was an
inverse correlation between pre- versus post-HIV-1
vaccination changes in lymphocyte proliferation and the frequency of
CD4+ cells producing IFN-
in response to
HIV-1 recombinant envelope glycoprotein. Future studies should assess
other cytokine profiles and chemokines in addition to IL-2 and
IFN-
to help delineate the characteristics of the cells that
contribute to enhanced lymphocyte proliferation in response to
vaccination. If future vaccination strategies can increase the
frequencies of responder Th1 cytokine-producing CD4+
and CD8+ T-cells induced by HIV-1
antigens in addition to increased lymphocyte proliferation,
consideration should be given to evaluating their clinical effects as
well.
 |
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
|
|---|
We are grateful to Eric
Valdivia and Carolyn Novotny for expert secretarial assistance and to
J. Alan Arbuckle for technical assistance.
This work was funded
by contract N01-AI-45211 and grant U01-AI-48021 at Saint Louis
University from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious
Diseases.
 |
FOOTNOTES
|
|---|
* Corresponding
author. Mailing address: Division of Infectious Diseases and
Immunology, Saint Louis University Health Sciences Center, School of
Medicine, 3635 Vista Ave. (FDT-8N), St. Louis, MO 63110. Phone: (314)
577-8648. Fax: (314) 771-3816. E-mail: gorsegj{at}slu.edu. 
Present
address: Infectious Diseases, P.C., 2325 Dougherty Ferry Road, #206,
St. Louis, MO 63122. 
 |
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Clinical and Vaccine Immunology, January 2006, p. 26-32, Vol. 13, No. 1
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