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HIV viral shedding in semen: lack of correlation with systemic virus-specific CD8 responses
Prameet M Sheth1, Kamnoosh Shahabi, Anuradha Rebbapragada
1Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
Abstract:
Semen is a major transmission vector for HIV. Virus-specific CD8 T cells are critical in HIV control, but their relationship with semen viral load is unknown. We therefore examined the association between systemic HIV-specific IFN-gamma CD8 responses and viral load in the semen and blood of HIV-infected men. No correlation was observed between viral load in either semen or blood and systemic CD8 T-cell responses. Further studies of immune correlates of semen HIV shedding are needed.
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