HIV chronic infection in children and adolescents: innate and adaptive responses to inactivated HIV particles

• Grant number: 10/16513-9
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: January 01, 2011
• End date: December 31, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Maternal and Child Health
• Principal Investigator: Maria Marluce dos Santos Vilela
• Grantee: Maria Marluce dos Santos Vilela
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Médicas (FCM). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Emanuel Borges Vitor Anjos ; Marcos Tadeu Nolasco da Silva ; Sandra Cecília Botelho Costa ; Taís Nitsch Mazzola

Abstract

The objective of this study is to characterize in HIV-infected children and adolescents the response of dendritic cells (DC) and lymphocytes to inactivated HIV particles. The number and function of lymphocytes (NKT, CD4+, CD8+, Treg and Th17) and plasmacytoid and myeloid DC will be evaluated by flow cytometry. The thymic function will be assessed by the number of TREC copies in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) by Real Time PCR. PBMC will be incubated with aldrithiol-2-inactivated HIV to analyze the lymphoproliferative response by flow cytometry and cytokine production by ELISA in the presence of HIV particles. Co-cultures with T lymphocytes and monocyte-derived dendritic cells (MDDC) pulsed with inactivated HIV will be performed, and their cytokine production and mRNA expression will be evaluated by ELISA and Real Time PCR, respectively. The variables will be compared in individuals with controlled and uncontrolled HIV viral load by the statistic software SPSS. (AU)