Brief Report: L-Selectin (CD62L) Is Downregulated on CD4+ and CD8+ T Lymphocytes of HIV-1-Infected Individuals Naive for ART

• Published in: Journal of acquired immune deficiency syndromes (1999) Vol. 72; no. 5; p. 492
• Main Authors: Vassena, Lia, Giuliani, Erica, Buonomini, Anna R, Malagnino, Vincenzo, Andreoni, Massimo, Doria, Margherita
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 15.08.2016
• Subjects: CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes - cytology; CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes - metabolism; CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes - cytology; CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes - metabolism; Disease Progression; Down-Regulation; Gene Expression Profiling; HIV Infections - immunology; HIV Infections - metabolism; HIV-1 - immunology; Humans; L-Selectin - metabolism; Lymphocyte Activation; Receptor Cross-Talk; Viral Load; Virus Replication
• ISSN: 1944-7884
• DOI: 10.1097/QAI.0000000000000999

The expression of L-selectin (CD62L) in HIV-1 infection has not been extensively investigated. Here, we measured CD62L expression on T-cell subsets of HIV-1-infected individuals naive for antiretroviral therapy (ART-naive) or receiving therapy (ART), and seronegative control subjects (HIV-neg). We found reduced frequencies of CD62L(+) cells among CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells from ART-naive as compared with ART and HIV-neg groups, particularly within naive and central memory subsets. CD62L expression on T cells inversely correlated with viral load and rapidly increased after ART initiation. Plasma sCD62L levels did not correlate with CD62L expression, being higher in all HIV-1-infected individuals as compared with HIV-neg subjects. Finally, CD62L downregulation was found associated with the expression of the CD38 activation marker in CD8(+) T cells, but not in CD4(+) T cells. We suggest that CD62L downregulation due to unconstrained HIV-1 replication may have important consequences for T-cell circulation and function and for disease progression.