Autoreactive response in seronegative homosexual men at high risk for HIV infection

Peripheral autoreactive T cell response was evaluated by limiting dilution analysis of autologous mixed lymphocyte reaction cultures in 15 subjects at high risk for HIV infection and in 20 normal individuals. The two groups did not show a quantitative difference of peripheral autoreactive T cells, but they showed different kinetics. While controls provided a straight line passing through the origin, the majority of high risk individuals showed a curve with a limited linear portion at high cell concentration, indicating that different mechanisms regulate the autoreactive response in the two groups studied. A follow-up study performed in three high risk and three normal individuals revealed a time-dependent increase of peripheral autoreactive T cells only in high risk subjects. Such increase correlates with the decrease of CD4+ cell number and CD4+/CD8+ cell ratio. Furthermore, the proliferative response of the same three subjects to gp160 peptides suggests a specific cellular reactivity to HIV components. This work has potential importance in understanding some of the early events in HIV infection.