Impaired IFN-gamma-secreting capacity in mycobacterial antigen-specific CD4 T cells during chronic HIV-1 infection despite long-term HAART.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether long-term HAART in chronic HIV-1 infection restores fully functional Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB)-specific CD4 T-cell responses.
DESIGN: A cross-sectional study of HIV-1-seropositive subjects on continuous HAART for over one year with CD4 cell counts greater than 300 cells/microl and undetectable viraemia, antiretroviral-naive individuals with primary HIV-1 infection (PHI), and healthy bacillus Calmette-Guérin-vaccinated low-risk controls.
METHODS: Purified protein derivative (PPD)-specific cytokine-secreting CD4 T cells were quantified ex vivo by enzyme-linked immunospot assay and intracellular cytokine staining. Lymphoproliferation was detected by [3H]-thymidine incorporation.
RESULTS: PPD-specific IFN-gamma-secreting CD4 T cells were markedly reduced in chronic HAART-treated HIV-1-positive and PHI subjects compared with healthy controls [medians 30, 155 and 582 spot-forming cells/million peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), respectively, P < 0.0001 and P < 0.002], but the frequency of these cells was, nonetheless, significantly greater in viraemic PHI subjects than in aviraemic chronic HIV-1-positive subjects (P < 0.01). In the latter, low frequencies of PPD-specific IL-2 and IL-4-secreting CD4 T cells were also observed. However, lymphoproliferation was evident after the in-vitro stimulation of PBMC with PPD, indicating that MTB-specific T cells were present. The defect in IFN-gamma secretion could be overcome by culture with IL-12.
CONCLUSION: Despite an improvement in CD4 T-cell counts after HAART, MTB-specific CD4 T cells from chronically infected patients have impaired IFN-gamma-secreting capacity. The early initiation of HAART might preserve functional CD4 T-cell responses to MTB, and warrants evaluation in populations with a high risk of dual infection.