Autoimmunity and dysmetabolism of human acquired immunodeficiency syndrome

• Published in: Immunologic research Vol. 64; no. 3; pp. 641 - 652
• Main Authors: Huang, Yan-Mei, Hong, Xue-Zhi, Xu, Jia-Hua, Luo, Jiang-Xi, Mo, Han-You, Zhao, Hai-Lu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.06.2016; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Acquired immune deficiency syndrome; Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome - immunology; AIDS; AIDS Vaccines - immunology; Allergology; Autoantibodies - metabolism; Autoimmunity; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes - immunology; CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes - virology; Clinical Trials as Topic; HIV; HIV-1 - immunology; Homeostasis; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humans; Immunology; Internal Medicine; Interpretive Synthesis Review Article; Medicine/Public Health; Metabolism; Pneumocystis; Pneumonia, Pneumocystis - immunology; Sarcoma, Kaposi - immunology; Vaccines; Weight Loss; Autoimmunity; Human immunodeficiency virus vaccine; Regulatory T cells; Metabolism; Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome; Immunodeficiency
• ISSN: 0257-277X; 1559-0755
• DOI: 10.1007/s12026-015-8767-5

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) remains ill-defined by lists of symptoms, infections, tumors, and disorders in metabolism and immunity. Low CD4 cell count, severe loss of body weight, pneumocystis pneumonia, and Kaposi’s sarcoma are the major disease indicators. Lines of evidence indicate that patients living with AIDS have both immunodeficiency and autoimmunity. Immunodeficiency is attributed to deficits in the skin- and mucosa-defined innate immunity, CD4 T cells and regulatory T cells, presumably relating human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. The autoimmunity in AIDS is evident by: (1) overproduction of autoantibodies, (2) impaired response of CD4 cells and CD8 cells, (3) failure of clinical trials of HIV vaccines, and (4) therapeutic benefits of immunosuppression following solid organ transplantation and bone marrow transplantation in patients at risk of AIDS. Autoantibodies are generated in response to antigens such as debris and molecules de novo released from dead cells, infectious agents, and catabolic events. Disturbances in metabolic homeostasis occur at the interface of immunodeficiency and autoimmunity in the development of AIDS. Optimal treatments favor therapeutics targeting on the regulation of metabolism to restore immune homeostasis.