Inadequate Clearance of Translocated Bacterial Products in HIV-Infected Humanized Mice
Figure 4
Activation of CD8+ cells was associated with lower CD4+/CD8+ cell ratios and higher viral loads.
Human CD8+ splenocyte activation levels defined by HLA−DR+ and CD38+ co-staining from HIV−/DSS− (black circle), HIV−/DSS+ (black square), HIV+/DSS− (white circle), and HIV+/DSS+ animals (white square) were correlated with CD4+ cell-activation levels, CD4+/CD8+ cell ratio, and viral load. (A) In uninfected mice, activation levels of CD8+ and CD4+ cells were tightly correlated (n = 23, pooled data from two independent experiments). (B) But in HIV+ mice, this relationship was not as clear (n = 27, pooled data from two independent experiments). (C) In HIV+ mice, higher percentages of activated CD8+ cells correlated with lower CD4+/CD8+ cell ratios. (D) When activation levels were adjusted for overall engraftment by calculating percentages of HLA-DR+CD38+CD8+ cells of total cells, including murine cells, CD8+ cell activation correlated also with higher viral loads.