Relationship between Hiv-1 specific T-cell and antibody responses in chronically infected antiretroviral naive Ugandan patients

Abstract

The interaction between T- and B-cells is vital for effective protective immunity because this relationship leads to production of optimal T-cell dependent antibodies. This study aimed at determining whether there is an association between HIV-1 specific T-cell responses and antibody responses in chronically infected antiretroviral naïve patients; because chronically infected individuals who remain untreated have low CD4+ T-cell counts known to stimulate antibody responses. The study is cross-sectional involving 20 individuals who were previously screened for the presence of ARV drugs in their sera. Elispot assays were used to quantify the level of HIV-induced INF-γ responses while neutralizing antibody assays for HIV-1 in TZM-bI were used to quantify antibody responses in 9 individuals off ART and 10 individuals on ART. The magnitude of induced INF- γ T-cell responses were higher in individuals off ART; median 625(Interquartile range [IQR] 159.3-2306) compared to 294.5(IQR 3-1316) of individuals on ART. The median antibody responses in individuals on ART [75(IQR 36-155.8)] were significantly higher than those who were off ART [25(IQR 20.5-55.0)]. There was no significant correlation between T-cell responses and antibody responses in chronically infected HIV-1 patients off ART (Spearman’s ρ= -0.1423; p= 0.717); T-Cell responses negatively correlated with antibody responses in individuals on ART (Spearman’s ρ= -0.7842; p= 0.014). In conclusion, chronically infected HIV-1 individuals, who remain untreated, there is no significant correlation between T-cell and antibody responses and this could be due to depletion in CD4+ T-cells during this stage of infection.