Revista de SIDA e investigación clínica

Eosinophils in HIV Patients Co-Infected by HTLV-1 and/or Strongyloïdes stercoralis: Protective or Harmful Depending on HIV Infection Stage

Abstract

Yves Plumelle, Vanessa Cornely, Alice Eischen, Odile Bera, Nicole Desbois, Andre Cabie and Andre Edouard

Polymorphonuclear eosinophils are source of chemokines such as RANTES and IL-16. These chemokines suppress the in vitro viral replication of HIV primary strains and so could contribute to the resistance of infection in HIV seronegative patients despite their belonging to risk groups. Hypothesis considering eosinophilia as a protective factor against HIV infection by overexposing RANTES was tested. Therefore we studied the impact of co-infections of human T lymphotropic virus-1 (HTLV-1) and Strongyloïdes stercoralis (Ss), infectious agents potentially eosinophylogenic, on the eosinophilic reaction in HIV patients and on the patients' survival. From 1983 to 1996, 445 HIV infected patients had a follow-up for at least one year of whom 52% developed AIDS, 13% presented with HTLV-1, 15% with Ss coinfection and 23% showed eosinophilia superior to 1.10x9/L. Our results indicate that eosinophilia provoked by Ss was not altered by HTLV-1. Furthermore the reactive ability of eosinophils was not affected by the drastic decrease of CD4-T observed in HIV patients. HIV patients co-infected by HTLV-1 presented higher amounts of CD4-T as compared to patients only infected by HIV, but no effect on CD8-T and eosinophils amount was observed. The median age superior in HTLV-1/Ss co-infected HIV patients suggested an asymptomatic period lengthened because of later diagnostic and a protective effect of these co-infections. However patients' survival in AIDS phase was neither changed by eosinophilia nor by the HTLV-1 and Ss co-infections.