Immunologic profiles of HIV-infected and uninfected commercial sex workers in the Vellore region of Southern India.

Female commercial sex workers (CSW) play a major role in the transmission of HIV infection in India. Their immunology has not been characterized. To determine HIV-related immunologic changes and establish baseline data for CSW, blood cell counts and serum immunoglobulin levels of 35 HIV-positive, asymptomatic CSW; 37 HIV-negative CSW, and 35 age-matched, non-CSW, healthy women controls were compared. The CSW, irrespective of their HIV status, had abnormalities that included high eosinophil, lymphocyte, and CD8 counts and low CD4:CD8 ratios. The only significant difference between the HIV-positive and HIV-negative CSW was in their neutrophil and CD8 counts (p < 0.05, ANOVA). Compared with normal controls, the CSW had significantly elevated serum IgG, IgA, and IgM levels; however, no significant difference was shown between CSW who tested positive for HIV and those who did not. These results suggest that the CSW of Vellore region in Southern India have hyperimmunoglobulinemia irrespective of their HIV status and thus highlight the need to use appropriate controls when immunologic evaluation studies are done.