Assesment of the Immune Status of Hiv Positive and Hiv Negative Individuals With and Without Intestinal Parasitic Infections
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Date
1988-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Several features of the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) epidemic in
developing countries make it different from the epidemic in the industrialised world. Faster
rate of progression to AIDS and death, and a higher risk of infection after exposure to my
are reported from developing regions of the world. Differences in natural history of HIY
infection in developing versus industrialised countries might be related to differences in the
immune status and responses of the patients. This might be due to exposure to mUltiple
pathogens in the former countries, among which intestinal parasitic infections are the most
common. The objective of this cross-sectional study is to assess the immune status of my
infected individuals with and without intestinal parasites and to determine the effect of
treating parasitic infections on some immunological markers of the patients. Yarious
immune cell subsets were examined by means of flow cytometry, using an extensive panel of
monoclonal antibody combinations on my seropositive subjects and healthy controls with
and without parasitic infections (n=80). Pre and post parasite treatment analysis was carried
out in my seropositive (n=5) and seronegative (n=6) individuals. Stool specimens of all
study subjects were examined for intestinal parasites using both direct and concentration
methods. Decreased proportions of CD4+ cells and increase of CD8+ T cells were observed
in the my seropositive subjects. As would b~ eX'pecte<l 'CD4/CD8ratio Was highly reduced'
in my seropositives when compared with the inY:~el'ol1Yg~tiy~ indi~id\la:!~: (~e~n,i 9.3<1 '-~'s:
1.23). Major changes in the proportions of T cell; sJb,~et.~ 1.y6r(>' s~en:jn'the' tb!fceU,: This:
was characterized by a progressive decrease of eft;~c~or: ~0.lI~ 'a~d" ~t]' :ir;~~~a:~e :i.n 'l~emOry:
cells. Intestinal parasitic infections had no statistically: slghif;c~ht: effcict' o:n : the' cI)4 and:
\
CDS cell proportions. However, an elevated proportion of CD4 and CDS cells expressing
the activation marker HLA-DR+CD38- was observed in the parasite-infected subjects
regardless of their my status. The expression of the activation marker was significant in the
CDS+ cells. Treatment of parasitic infections caused a significant reduction of the activated
cells. Furthermore, increased levels of CD4 naive cells and decrease in the proportion of
memory cells were seen after treatment for parasitic infections. Since activation of the
immune system is known to enhance my infection of immune cells, parasitic infections that
persistently activate the immune 'system seem to have positive interaction in my
progression to AIDS. However, a much more thorough investigation needs to be conducted
to substantiate the present findings.
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Biology