In addition to hemostasis, human platelets have several immune functions and interact with infectious pathogens including HIV in vitro. Here, we report that platelets from HIV-infected individuals on combined antiretroviral drug therapy (ART) with low blood CD4⁺ T cell counts (<350 cells/μl) contained replication-competent HIV despite viral suppression. In vitro, human platelets harboring HIV propagated the virus to macrophages, a process that could be prevented with the biologic abciximab, an anti–integrin αIIb/β3 Fab. Furthermore, in our cohort, 88% of HIV-infected individuals on ART with viral suppression and with platelets containing HIV were poor immunological responders with CD4⁺ T cell counts remaining below <350 cells/μl for more than one year. Our study suggests that platelets may be transient carriers of HIV and may provide an alternative pathway for HIV dissemination in HIV-infected individuals on ART with viral suppression and poor CD4⁺ T cell recovery.

除止血外，人体血小板还具有多种免疫功能，并在体外与包括HIV在内的传染性病原体相互作用。在这里，我们报告说，尽管血液中的病毒被抑制，但血液中CD4 ⁺ T细胞计数低（<350细胞/μl）的联合抗逆转录病毒药物治疗（ART）的HIV感染者的血小板中仍含有能复制的HIV。在体外，携带HIV的人类血小板将病毒传播到巨噬细胞，而生物学上的阿昔单抗（一种抗整合素αIIb/β3Fab）可以阻止这一过程。此外，在我们的队列中，接受病毒抑制和含HIV血小板的抗病毒治疗的HIV感染者中有88％是CD4 ⁺T细胞计数保持低于<350细胞/μl一年以上。我们的研究表明，血小板可能是HIV的短暂携带者，并可能为HIV感染个体中HIV抑制和CD4 ⁺ T细胞恢复不良提供HIV传播的替代途径。