Production of (beta -chemokines) in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection: Evidence that high levels of macrophage inflammatory (protein-1 beta) are associated with a decreased risk of HIV disease progression

• Published in: The Journal of infectious diseases Vol. 177; no. 2; p. 331
• Main Authors: Ullum, Henrik, Alessandro Cozzi Lepri, Jette, Victor, Hassan Aladdin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Oxford University Press 01.02.1998
• ISSN: 0022-1899; 1537-6613

Macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1alpha, MIP-1beta, and RANTES production were measured by ELISA in whole blood that had been stimulated for 4.5 h with phytohemagglutinin. The blood was from 90 healthy human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-negative controls and from 245 HIV-infected subjects who were followed for < or = 4.5 years. HIV-infected persons without AIDS had increased levels of MIP-1alpha, MIP-1beta, and RANTES (P < .01) compared with levels in controls. Subjects with AIDS, compared with controls, had decreased production levels of MIP-1beta (P < .0001) and similar levels of MIP-1alpha and RANTES. A high level of MIP-1beta production was associated with a decreased risk of progressing to AIDS or death, as determined by univariate analysis (P < .01) and adjusted for CD4 cell count and age (P = .07, P = .06, respectively). The findings suggest that the production level of beta-chemokine changes during HIV infection and that a high level of beta-chemokine production in peripheral blood lymphocytes may be associated with less rapid disease progression in HIV infection.