HIV-1 gp120-specific antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity correlates with rate of disease progression

The Ab-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) activity of anti-gp120 Abs in serum from four groups of HIV-1-positive individuals in the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study was evaluated at several time points over a 10-yr period. HIV-1-positive individuals who progressed to AIDS within 3 yr of seroconversion (rapid progressors) were compared with seroconverters who did not progress to AIDS within 6 yr (nonrapid progressors) and individuals who were seropositive when they entered the study and did not progress to AIDS within 9-10 yr (nonprogressors). At the visit closest to AIDS, rapid progressors had significantly lower titers of Abs that mediate ADCC against HIV-1 gp120 than those of nonrapid progressors at corresponding visits or those of nonprogressors at any visit. Nonprogressors generally had high titers of ADCC Abs at all visits. Differences between ADCC titers of rapid progressors and nonrapid progressors or nonprogressors remained when longitudinal changes within individuals were compared. Among seroconverters who were nonrapid progressors, those with low or declining ADCC titers lost significantly more CD4+ cells during the study than those whose ADCC titers were stable or increasing, even though both groups had similar serum virion RNA levels. This demonstrates that high titers of Abs that mediate ADCC correlate with a successful host defense against AIDS.