Impact of HIV-ART on Th17 and Treg Subpopulations in Blood and Genital Mucosa

MARÍA PÍA HOLGADO; DIEGO ZURITA; JULIANA FALIVENE; ANGELES NICO; CARINA CASTRO; PEDRO CAHN; MARÍA JULIA RUIZ; VALERIA FINK; GABRIELA TURK; MARIA PAULA CARUSO; NATALIA LAUFER; YANINA ALEXANDRA GHIGLIONE; OMAR SUED; MARÍA MAGDALENA GHERARDI

Chicago

Conferencia; HIVR4P 2016 Conference; 2016

Background: Th17 and Treg cells play a key role in HIV infection.The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of antiretroviral therapy (ART) on these T-cell subsets in peripheral blood (PB) and female genital mucosa (FGM) in different patient groups.Methods: PBMCs and cervical mononuclear cells (CMCs) from FGM were obtained from the following groups: HIV-, HIV+ART+ and HIV+ (ARTnaïve). Th17 and Treg cells were stained with specific markers and analyzed by flow-cytometry. Cytokines secreted by CMCs were measured by Cytometric Bead Array.Results: In PBMCs %Th17 in HIV+ ART+ was higher than in HIV+ (p< 0.001), and reached values similar to HIV-, whereas significant lower Th17 values were found in HIV+ in relation to the other groups. Th17/Treg ratios were also incremented after ART (HIV+ART+ vs HIV+ p< 0.01) and these levels resulted similar compared to those in HIV- (p=0.13). However, %Treg in HIV+ ART+ and HIV+ were comparable and both resulted higher in relation to HIV- (p< 0.05). HIV+ART+ showed lower T-cell activation than HIV+ (p< 0.002) but still remained at higher levels compared to HIV- (p