Role of in vitro stimulation with lipopolysaccharide on T-Cell activation in HIV-infected antiretroviral-treated patients

We investigated the effect of LPS in vitro stimulation on T-cell activation in HIV-infected patients with different CD4+ recovery on HAART. PBMCs from 30 HIV-positive, HAART-treated, aviremic individuals with different CD4+ reconstitution (Low Responders: CD4+ < 350/μL; Intermediate Responders: CD4+ 350-599/μL; High Responders: CD4+ ≥ 600/μL) were cultured with LPS and the proportion of HLA-DR/CD38- and Ki67-expressing CD4+/CD8+ T-cells was measured (flow cytometry). Upon LPS stimulation, significantly higher CD4+ and CD8+HLA-DR+ cells were shown in LR and IR versus HIV-negative controls. While no differences in the proportion of LPS-stimulated CD4+CD38+ cells were recorded amongst HIV-positive subgroups, CD8+CD38+ cells were more elevated in patients with lower CD4+ recovery on HAART (i.e., LR and IR). Upon in vitro LPS stimulation, HLA-DR and CD38 expression on T-cells are differentially regulated. While HLA-DR induction reflects impaired CD4+ reconstitution on HAART, cell-surface CD38 expression is increased only on CD8+ T-cells, allowing to speculate that the sole induction of CD38 on CD4+ cells may not be sufficient to depict LPS-driven immune activation in HIV.