Increased intracellular macrophage inflammatory protein-1β correlates with advanced HIV disease

The objective of this study was to correlate between macrophage inflammatory protein-1β (MIP 1β) and viral loads in untreated, HIV-infected individuals. For that purpose, HIV-positive patients were tested for number of copies of HIV-RNA in plasma and for intracellular MIP1β in freshly explanted CD8 and CD4 lymphocytes and monocytes. Results demonstrate that the levels of MIP1β in the various cell populations were significantly higher in the HIV group than in age-matched healthy individuals. Moreover, patients with low CD4 cell counts (<500/μl) and relatively high viral loads exhibited much higher levels of intracellular MIP1β than patients with lower viral loads and CD4 counts >500/μl. We conclude therefore that although MIP1β is induced in the various cell populations as a result of HIV infection in vivo, a high intracellular level of MIP1β appears to be linked to a deterioration in the immune status of the patients.