Human leucocyte antigen ‐ B w4 and G ag‐specific T cell responses are associated with slow disease progression in HIV ‐1 B‐i nfected anti‐retroviral therapy‐naive C hinese

Summary In C hina, the majority of human immunodeficiency virus ( HIV ) infections are predominately subtype B . It is important to characterize the HIV ‐1 subtype B ‐specific and its T cell response within the C hinese population, with the aim of identifying protective correlates of immunity to control HIV ‐1 infections. In this study, we performed a comprehensive analysis looking into the magnitude/strength of T cell responses directed at the G ag protein of the HIV ‐1 subtype B , one of the most conserved HIV ‐1 proteins. The study group consisted of anti‐retroviral native and chronic HIV ‐1 subtype B ‐infected individuals. We used enzyme‐linked immunospot ( ELISPOT ) assay to quantify the total T cell responses to HIV ‐1 G ag at the single peptide level. Twenty‐eight (38%) peptides were recognized in 24 (82·8%) individuals. The p24 was identified as the most frequently recognized subunit protein with the greatest T cell response in the test, which correlated positively with CD 4 + T cell count and inversely with viral load ( VL ). At the level of the human leucocyte antigen ( HLA ) supertypes, we detected the highest levels and a significant correlation with both the CD 4 + T cell count and the VL with G ag T cell responses in B w4/ B w4. These findings demonstrate that (i) the HIV ‐1 B G ag p24‐specific immune responses play an important role in controlling viral replication and slowing clinical progression; and (ii) HLA ‐ B w4/ B w4 allele has stronger T cell responses, which is associated with slow clinical progression in C hinese HIV patients.