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Impaired Phagolysosomal Fusion of Peripheral Blood Monocytes from HIV‐Infected Subjects
Author(s) -
PITTIS M. G.,
STERNIK G.,
SEN L.,
DIEZ R. A.,
PLANES N.,
PIROLA D.,
ESTEVEZ M. E.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.934
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1365-3083
pISSN - 0300-9475
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3083.1993.tb02583.x
Subject(s) - acridine orange , cd8 , monocyte , immunology , lymphocyte , flow cytometry , medicine , biology , immune system , pathology , staining
We evaluated phagolysosomal fusion in peripheral blood monocytes from 20 HIV‐infected individuals and 40 normal controls, using a fluorescence assay with acridine orange as marker. The percentages of phagolysosomal fusion of monocytes from HIV‐infected subjects, after 30 and 60 min of yeast ingestion, (mean ± standard deviation) 57·2 ± 17 and 63·2 ± 18·6, respectively, when compared to normal controls (72·4 ± 7·8 and 77 ± 8·1), did not differ significantly. However, there was a direct linear association between the percentages of phagolysosomal fusion and CD4 + lymphocytes ( P <0·001) or CD4/CD8 T‐cell ratio ( P <0·01). These results suggest that phagolysosomal dysfunction becomes evident at late stages of HIV infection and progresses as CD4 + T‐lymphocyte count and CD4/CD8 T‐cell ratio decrease. On the other hand, recombinant gp120 inhibited significantly normal phagolysosomal fusion at concentrations ranging between 1 and 1000 ng/ml. Taking together the results obtained, we can conclude that gp120 could be responsible for monocyte phagolysosomal dysfunction observed in HIV infected patients.