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Journal of Virology, January 2000, p. 57-64, Vol. 74, No. 1
New England Regional Primate Research Center,
Harvard Medical School, Southborough, Massachusetts 01772
Received 3 May 1999/Accepted 21 September 1999
It has recently been shown that rapid and profound CD4+
T-cell depletion occurs almost exclusively within the intestinal tract of simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)-infected macaques within days of
infection. Here we demonstrate (by three- and four-color flow
cytometry) that this depletion is specific to a definable subset of
CD4+ T cells, namely, those having both a highly and/or
acutely activated (CD69+ CD38+
HLA-DR+) and memory (CD45RA
0022-538X/0/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Identifying the Target Cell in Primary Simian
Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV) Infection: Highly Activated Memory
CD4+ T Cells Are Rapidly Eliminated in Early SIV Infection
In Vivo
Leu8
) phenotype. Moreover, we demonstrate that this
subset of helper T cells is found primarily within the intestinal
lamina propria. Viral tropism for this particular cell type (which has
been previously suggested by various studies in vitro) could explain
why profound CD4+ T-cell depletion occurs in the intestine
and not in peripheral lymphoid tissues in early SIV infection.
Furthermore, we demonstrate that an acute loss of this specific subset
of activated memory CD4+ T cells may also be detected in
peripheral blood and lymph nodes in early SIV infection. However, since
this particular cell type is present in such small numbers in
circulation, its loss does not significantly affect total
CD4+ T cell counts. This finding suggests that SIV and,
presumably, human immunodeficiency virus specifically infect, replicate
in, and eliminate definable subsets of CD4+ T cells in vivo.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Division of
Comparative Pathology, One Pine Hill Drive, P.O. Box 9102, Southborough, MA 01772. Phone: (508) 624-8013. Fax: (508) 624-8181. E-mail: ronald_veazey{at}hms.harvard.edu.
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