Beschreibung:
<jats:p>Alterations of B cell subpopulations have been described up to date as characterizing advanced stage of HIV-1 infection. However, whether such defects are relevant in subjects with a preserved number of CD4<jats:sup>+</jats:sup>T cells (>350 cells/μL) is unclear. In a cross-sectional study, we investigated if signs of B cells exhaustion and impaired viral immune surveillance are present in a cohort of 43 asymptomatic HIV-1-infected patients with preserved CD4<jats:sup>+</jats:sup>T cell counts (>350 cells/μL) and highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) untreated. A dramatic expansion of exhausted tissue-like memory B cells (CD<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:msup><mml:mrow><mml:mn>10</mml:mn></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mo>-</mml:mo></mml:mrow></mml:msup></mml:math>CD2<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:msup><mml:mrow><mml:mn>1</mml:mn></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mtext>l</mml:mtext><mml:mtext>o</mml:mtext><mml:mtext>w</mml:mtext></mml:mrow></mml:msup></mml:math>CD2<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:msup><mml:mrow><mml:mn>7</mml:mn></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mo>-</mml:mo></mml:mrow></mml:msup></mml:math>) was observed. B cells alteration was related to an increase in Torque teno virus (TTV) load, used as surrogate marker of immune function. Successfully HAART-treated patients showed normalization of B cell subpopulations frequency and TTV load. These results provide new insights on B cell in HIV-1 infection and show that development of B cell abnormalities precedes CD4<jats:sup>+</jats:sup>T cell decline.</jats:p>