PROBLEM Pregnancy appears to favor maternal antibody production. In contrast, by damaging follicular helper T cells (TFH ), HIV-1 infection compromises protective humoural immune response. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the frequency of different TFH -like cells in HIV-infected pregnant women (PW) before and after antiretroviral (ARV) therapy. METHOD OF STUDY Peripheral blood mononuclear cells, CD4+ T and B cells, were obtained from asymptomatic HIV-1-infected non-PW and PW just before and after ARV therapy. In some experiments, healthy HIV-1-negative PW were also tested. The frequency of different TFH -like cell subsets was determined by flow cytometry. The plasma titers of IgG anti-tetanus toxoid (TT), anti-HBsAg, and anti-gp41 were determined by ELISA. The in vitro production of total IgG, IL-21, and hormones (estrogen and progesterone) was quantified also by ELISA. RESULTS Our results demonstrate that antiretroviral (ARV) therapy was more efficient in elevating the percentage of circulating IL-21-secreting TFH cells in HIV-1-infected pregnant women (PW) than in non-pregnant patients (nPW). Moreover, in co-culture systems, CD4+ T cells from ART-treated PW were more efficient in assisting B cells to produce IgG production. The in vivo anti-HBsAg IgG titers after ARV therapy were also significantly higher in PW, and their levels were directly associated with both IL-21+ TFH frequency and plasma concentration of estrogen. CONCLUSION In summary, our results suggest that pregnancy favors the recovery of TFH -like cells after ARV therapy in HIV-1-infected women, which could help these mothers to protect their newborns from infectious diseases by transferring IgG across the placenta.

中文翻译：

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妊娠有利于在接受ARV治疗的HIV-1感染妇女中循环分泌IL-21的TFH样细胞得以恢复。

问题怀孕似乎有利于母体抗体的产生。相反，HIV-1感染通过破坏卵泡辅助性T细胞（TFH）损害了保护性的体液免疫反应。因此，我们旨在研究抗逆转录病毒（ARV）治疗前后HIV感染孕妇（PW）中不同TFH样细胞的频率。研究方法在ARV治疗前后，从无症状HIV-1感染的非PW和PW中获得外周血单个核细胞CD4 + T和B细胞。在一些实验中，还测试了健康的HIV-1阴性PW。通过流式细胞术确定不同的TFH样细胞亚群的频率。通过ELISA测定IgG抗破伤风类毒素（TT），抗HBsAg和抗gp41的血浆滴度。总IgG，IL-21，ELISA也对激素（雌激素和孕酮）进行了定量。结果我们的结果表明，与未怀孕的患者（nPW）相比，抗逆转录病毒（ARV）治疗在增加HIV-1感染的孕妇（PW）中增加循环分泌IL-21的TFH细胞百分比方面更为有效。此外，在共培养系统中，来自ART处理的PW的CD4 + T细胞在协助B细胞产生IgG的过程中更为有效。抗病毒药物治疗后的体内抗HBsAg IgG滴度在PW中也显着较高，其水平与IL-21 + TFH频率和雌激素的血浆浓度直接相关。结论总而言之，我们的结果表明，怀孕有利于HIV-1感染妇女接受ARV治疗后恢复TFH样细胞，