Increased level of serum HLA class I antigens in HIV infection correlation with disease progression

• Published in: Human immunology Vol. 40; no. 4; pp. 259 - 266
• Main Authors: Puppo, Francesco, Brenci, Sabrina, Lanza, Lorella, Bosco, Ornella, Imro, Maria A., Scudeletti, Marco, Indiveri, Francesco, Ferrone, Soldano
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.08.1994
• Subjects: AIDS/HIV; CD4 Lymphocyte Count; Cells, Cultured; Disease Progression; Histocompatibility Antigens Class I - blood; HIV Infections - immunology; HLA Antigens - blood; human immunodeficiency virus; Humans; Immunoblotting; Precipitin Tests; Centers for Disease Control HBSS; one-way analysis of variance β 2-μ; immunoglobulin mAb; peripheral blood mononuclear cell SDS-PAGE; sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis sHLA-I; ANOVA; serum HLA class I; Nonidet P-40 PBMC; Hanks balanced salt solution HIV; β 2-microglobulin CDC; human immunodeficiency virus Ig; monoclonal antibody NP-40
• ISSN: 0198-8859; 1879-1166
• DOI: 10.1016/0198-8859(94)90025-6

Analysis of (sHLA-I) antigens in a large number of HIV-positive subjects found a significant increase of their level, but did not detect any change in their molecular profile. Monitoring at yearly intervals for four years of the sHLA-I antigen level in 14 HIV-positive subjects with a normal sHLA-I antigen level at study entry showed a significant correlation between progressive increase of sHLA-I antigen level and disease progression. Furthermore, a Kaplan-Meier plot of the frequency of development of AIDS in 34 patients whose cases were followed for 7 years showed that sHLA-I antigen level is a strong predictor of progression to AIDS. Its predictive value is comparable to that of serum β 2-μ level, greater than that of serum neopterin, and lower than that of CD4 + T-cell percentage. The predictive value of sHLA-I antigen level in combination with serum β 2-μ level, neopterin level, or CD4 + T-cell percentage is greater than that of each individual variable. These results suggest that measurement of the sHLA-I antigen level may provide useful prognostic information in HIV-positive subjects. Human Immunology 40, 259–266 (1994)