Differences in pyroptosis of recent thymic emigrants CD4+ T Lymphocytes in ART-treated HIV-positive patients are influenced by sex

• Published in: Immunogenetics (New York) Vol. 73; no. 4; pp. 349 - 353
• Main Authors: Andrade-Santos, José Leandro, Carvalho-Silva, Wlisses Henrique Veloso, Souto, Fabrício Oliveira, Crovella, Sergio, Guimarães, Rafael Lima
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01-08-2021; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Allergology; Antiretroviral agents; Antiretroviral drugs; Antiretroviral therapy; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Caspase-1; CD4 antigen; Cell Biology; Cell death; Cytometry; Depletion; Females; Fluorescence; Gene Function; HIV; Human Genetics; Human immunodeficiency virus; Immunology; Lymphocytes; Lymphocytes T; Males; Medical records; Men; Patients; Pyroptosis; Sex; Sexually transmitted diseases; Short Communication; STD; Thymus; Immunological recovery; Caspase-1 activity; Cell death; Antiretroviral therapy
• ISSN: 0093-7711; 1432-1211
• DOI: 10.1007/s00251-020-01202-5

Pyroptosis cell death in recent thymus emigrants (RTE) CD4+ T lymphocytes plays an important role on HIV-1 infection as a cause of CD4+ T cell depletion, being influenced by several factors, among them, the sex. Thus, the aim of this study was evaluated pyroptosis levels in RTE CD4+ T lymphocytes of individuals under antiretroviral therapy (ART) stratified by sex. Thirty-seven ART-treated HIV-positive patients (22 females and 15 males) and 12 (seven females and five males) clinically health subjects were recruited. Analysis by flow-cytometry of RTE CD4+ cells (CD4+ CD31+ /fluorescent-labeled inhibitors of caspases-Caspase-1+) were performed. Clinical and sociodemographic aspects were also evaluated from medical records. We observed statistically higher levels of pyroptosis RTE CD4+ T cells in male individuals (69.3%) compared with female group (39.1%) (
P
 = 0.0356). Pre- and post-treatment CD4+ T cell counts were also higher in women than men (
P
 = 0.004 and
P
 = 0.012, respectively). Our data provides important evidence of the sex as a potential predictor of immunological reconstitution in ART-treated individuals.