AUTOANTIBODIES TO LYMPHOCYTES AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO THE NUMBER OF CD4 T LYMPHOCYTES IN HIV INFECTION

The accumulated knowledge about the pathogenesis of HIV infection indicates that the cytopathic effect of the virus on CD4 T lymphocytes is not the only cause of their death. Numerous data indicate that autoantibodies and cytotoxic lymphocytes specific to CD4 are the factor leading to death of uninfected CD4 T-lymphocytes and they play a leading role in the progression of immunodeficiency in HIV infection. The aim of this work was to study autoimmune reactions against CD4 T lymphocytes in HIV-infected patients. The study was conducted in the Udmurt Republican Center for the Prevention and Control of AIDS and Infectious Diseases in Izhevsk. The level of allogeneic and autologous anti-lymphocytic antibodies, as well as the number of CD4 T lymphocytes, were determined in the blood of 45 HIV-infected patients and 26 healthy donors by flow cytometry. To determine alloantibodies, the binding of antibodies of the studied plasma sample to mononuclears of a healthy donor was evaluated, and to determine autoantibodies, the binding of antibodies of the studied plasma sample to mononuclears of the same person was evaluated. Detection was performed using second antibodies against human IgG labeled with FITC. The level of anti-lymphocytic antibodies was expressed in % of lymphocytes that bound antibodies. Antibodies against allogeneic lymphocytes were found in 33% (9 out of 25) of HIV-infected people. The number of CD4 T lymphocytes in the blood of HIV-infected patients with antibodies to allogeneic lymphocytes is significantly lower than in the blood of HIV-infected patients in whom these antibodies have not been detected. Membrane-bound autoantibodies against lymphocytes were detected in 2 out of 20, i.e. in 10% of HIV-infected people. Anti-lymphocytic autoantibodies, which are a cumulative pool of lymphocyte-bound autoantibodies and autoantibodies in the plasma, were detected in 10 out of 20 HIV-infected patients (50%). Two-factor analysis of variance revealed that both autoantibodies against lymphocytes and ART have an effect on the number of CD4 T lymphocytes in the blood of HIV-infected patients (two-way ANOVA, p=0.045 and p=0.050, respectively). Thus, autoantibodies against lymphocytes were detected in the blood plasma of HIV-infected patients, which have a significant effect on the number of CD4 T-lymphocytes in the blood. To detect anti-lymphocytic autoantibodies, the method of binding plasma antibodies to autolymphocytes can be used, followed by detection by flow cytometry with anti-species antibodies conjugated with a fluorescent label.