Reduction in Interleukin‐2‐Producing Cells but not Th1 to Th2 Shift in Moderate and Advanced Stages of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type‐1‐Infection: Direct Analysis of Intracellular Cytokine Concentrations in CD4+ CD8− T Cells

• Published in: Scandinavian journal of immunology Vol. 50; no. 5; pp. 550 - 554
• Main Authors: Tanaka, M, Hirabayashi, Y, Gatanaga, H, Aizawa, S, Hachiya, A, Takahashi, Y, Tashiro, E, Kohsaka, T, Oyamada, M, Ida, S, Oka, S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, U.K. and Cambridge, USA Blackwell Science Ltd 01.11.1999
• Subjects: Adult; AIDS/HIV; Case-Control Studies; Cytokines - analysis; Cytokines - biosynthesis; Flow Cytometry; HIV Infections - etiology; HIV Infections - immunology; HIV-1; Humans; Interferon-gamma - biosynthesis; Interleukin-2 - biosynthesis; Interleukin-4 - biosynthesis; Interleukin-5 - biosynthesis; Middle Aged; Th1 Cells - immunology; Th2 Cells - immunology
• ISSN: 0300-9475; 1365-3083
• DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-3083.1999.00627.x

Previous studies have suggested that CD4+ T lymphocytes shift from the Th1 type to the Th2 type during disease progression in patients with the human immunodeficiency virus type‐1 (HIV‐1). In the present study, we used a modified method that allowed a direct measurement of intracellular cytokines in CD4+ CD8− T cells. A total of 48 HIV‐1‐infected (HIV+) and 16 HIV‐1‐uninfected (HIV‐) individuals were studied. The percentages of CD4+ CD8− T cells producing interleukin‐2 (IL‐2), interferon‐γ (IFN‐γ), interleukin‐4 (IL‐4), or interleukin‐5 (IL‐5) in HIV+ and HIV‐ subjects were 23.6% versus 34.9% (P < 0.01), 13.7% versus 13.2%, 1.3% versus 1.0%, and 1.2% versus 0.9%, respectively. The population of IL‐2‐producing cells decreased proportionately with reductions in CD4 counts (< 200/mm3, 200–500/mm3, and > 500/mm3 to 18.0%, 23.5%, and 30.5%, P < 0.05, respectively). There was an inverse correlation between the percentage of IL‐2‐producing cells and plasma viral load (r = − 0.446, P < 0.05). However, the percentages of CD4+ CD8− T cells producing other cytokines were not different between HIV+ and HIV−. Our cross‐sectional study demonstrated a decrease in IL‐2‐producing cells but not the Th1 to the Th2 shift in the CD4+ CD8− T cell population in the moderate and advanced stages of HIV‐1‐infection.