NK cells from Men Who Have Sex with Men at high risk for HIV-1 infection exhibit higher effector capacity

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 13; no. 1; pp. 16766 - 13
• Main Authors: Rincón, Daniel S., Flórez-Álvarez, Lizdany, Taborda, Natalia A., Hernandez, Juan C., Rugeles, María T., Zapata-Builes, Wildeman
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 05.10.2023; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 631/250/255; 692/699; 692/699/255; Antiviral drugs; CD4 antigen; CD69 antigen; Effector cells; Granzyme B; Health risks; HIV; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humanities and Social Sciences; Infections; Lymphocytes T; multidisciplinary; NKG2 antigen; p24 Protein; RANTES; Risk taking; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Sexual behavior; Sexually transmitted diseases; STD; γ-Interferon
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-44054-1

Despite being under constant exposure to HIV-1, some individuals do not show serological or clinical evidence of infection and are known as HESN (HIV-Exposed Seronegative). Multiple studies in different HESN cohorts have linked the NK cells as a correlate of resistance; however, little is known about the role of these cells in Men Who Have Sex with Men (MSM) with high risk sexual behaviors. We evaluated a general overview of activation and effector features of NK cells of MSM co-cultured with LT CD4 + HIV + in which MSM at high risk of HIV-1 infection (HR-MSM) exhibit higher capacity to eliminate infected cells, reduced percentages of CD69 + cells when compared to MSM at low risk of infection (LR-MSM). In addition, we found that, despite the lower levels of CD69 + NK cells on HR-MSM group, within this population, higher percentages of CD69 + IFN-γ + and CD69 + NKG2D + NK cells were found together with higher levels of RANTES and Granzyme B production with higher antiviral capacity, resulting in a lower concentration of p24 protein and p24 + CD4 + T cells. Altogether, this information suggests that NK cells of MSM could impact the capacity to face the viral infection.