Cellular and molecular insights into incomplete immune recovery in HIV/AIDS patients

Liting Yan; Kaiju Xu; Qing Xiao; Lin Tuo; Tingting Luo; Shuqiang Wang; Renguo Yang; Fujie Zhang; Xingxiang Yang

doi:10.3389/fimmu.2023.1152951

Cellular and molecular insights into incomplete immune recovery in HIV/AIDS patients

Front Immunol. 2023 May 2:14:1152951. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1152951. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Liting Yan^{1

2}, Kaiju Xu^{1

2}, Qing Xiao³, Lin Tuo^{1

2}, Tingting Luo^{1

2}, Shuqiang Wang^{1

2}, Renguo Yang^{1

2}, Fujie Zhang³, Xingxiang Yang^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Infectious Disease, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China.
² Chinese Academy of Sciences Sichuan Translational Medicine Research Hospital, Chengdu, China.
³ Clinical and Research Center for Infectious Diseases, Beijing Ditan Hospital, Beijing, China.

Abstract

Highly active antiretroviral therapy (ART) can effectively inhibit virus replication and restore immune function in most people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). However, an important proportion of patients fail to achieve a satisfactory increase in CD4⁺ T cell counts. This state is called incomplete immune reconstitution or immunological nonresponse (INR). Patients with INR have an increased risk of clinical progression and higher rates of mortality. Despite widespread attention to INR, the precise mechanisms remain unclear. In this review, we will discuss the alterations in the quantity and quality of CD4⁺ T as well as multiple immunocytes, changes in soluble molecules and cytokines, and their relationship with INR, aimed to provide cellular and molecular insights into incomplete immune reconstitution.

Keywords: human immunodeficiency virus; immunocytes; immunological nonresponders; incomplete immune recovery; soluble molecules.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active / adverse effects
CD4 Lymphocyte Count
CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes
HIV Infections*
HIV*
Humans

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Young Talent Fund of Sichuan Provincial People’s Hospital (2022QN46), and the Sichuan Science and Technology Program (2019YFS0368, 2020YFS0408).