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  • Impact of asymptomatic herpes simplex virus type 2 infection on mucosal homing and immune cell subsets in the blood and female genital tract.

Impact of asymptomatic herpes simplex virus type 2 infection on mucosal homing and immune cell subsets in the blood and female genital tract.

Journal of immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950) (2014-04-25)
Brett Shannon, Tae Joon Yi, Jamie Thomas-Pavanel, Lisungu Chieza, Praseedha Janakiram, Megan Saunders, Wangari Tharao, Sanja Huibner, Robert Remis, Anu Rebbapragada, Rupert Kaul
ABSTRACT

HSV-2 infection is common and generally asymptomatic, but it is associated with increased HIV susceptibility and disease progression. This may relate to herpes-mediated changes in genital and systemic immunology. Cervical cytobrushes and blood were collected from HIV-uninfected African/Caribbean women in Toronto, and immune cell subsets were enumerated blindly by flow cytometry. Immune differences between groups were assessed by univariate analysis and confirmed using a multivariate model. Study participants consisted of 46 women, of whom 54% were infected with HSV-2. T cell activation and expression of the mucosal homing integrin α4β7 (19.60 versus 8.76%; p < 0.001) were increased in the blood of HSV-2-infected women. Furthermore, expression of α4β7 on blood T cells correlated with increased numbers of activated (coexpressing CD38/HLA-DR; p = 0.004) and CCR5(+) (p = 0.005) cervical CD4(+) T cells. HSV-2-infected women exhibited an increase in the number of cervical CD4(+) T cells (715 versus 262 cells/cytobrush; p = 0.016), as well as an increase in the number and proportion of cervical CD4(+) T cells that expressed CCR5(+) (406 versus 131 cells, p = 0.001; and 50.70 versus 34.90%, p = 0.004) and were activated (112 versus 13 cells, p < 0.001; and 9.84 versus 4.86%, p = 0.009). Mannose receptor expression also was increased on cervical dendritic cell subsets. In conclusion, asymptomatic HSV-2 infection was associated with significant systemic and genital immune changes, including increased immune activation and systemic α4β7 expression; correlation of the latter with highly HIV-susceptible CD4(+) T cell subsets in the cervix may provide a mechanism for the increased HIV susceptibility observed in asymptomatic HSV-2-infected women.

MATERIALS
Product Number
Brand
Product Description

Sigma-Aldrich
D-(+)-Mannose, ≥99% (GC), wood
Sigma-Aldrich
D-(+)-Mannose, powder, BioReagent, suitable for cell culture
Millipore
D-(+)-Mannose, ≥99%, suitable for microbiology
Millipore
D-(+)-Mannose, ≥99.0% (sum of enantiomers, HPLC), suitable for microbiology
Sigma-Aldrich
D-(+)-Mannose, BioUltra, ≥99.5% (sum of enantiomers, HPLC)
Sigma-Aldrich
D-(+)-Mannose, synthetic, ≥99% (GC)