A preliminary study about treg cells phenotypic alteration

Abstract

Regulatory T cells (Treg) are a subpopulation of CD4+ T cells that play a crucial role in establishing and maintaining self-tolerance and immune homeostasis. Many studies have explored the frequency of Treg in HIV infected patients. However, there are controversial findings about the role of these cells in the HIV infection. Nowadays, different studies have showed that Treg cells are susceptible to the HIV infection. Our in vitro data has showed that HIV infects Treg and produces a downregulation of Foxp3 expression. This phenomenon also leads Treg cells to a loss of their immune suppressive capacity. The aim of this study is to corroborate if this behavior also occurs in vivo and determine the Treg phenotype in HIVinfected patients. Preliminary results indicate that frequency of Foxp3+ cells is lower in HIVinfected patients than in healthy volunteers. At present, we are recovering enough number of samples to confirm these results. A better understanding of these cells could serve for the effective exploitation of their suppressive functions for clinical benefit.