HIV Infection Affects Blood Myeloid Dendritic Cells after Successful Therapy and despite Nonprogressing Clinical Disease

We assessed the longitudinal changes in blood myeloid dendritic cell (mDC) and plasmacytoid dendritic cell (pDC) populations in subjects with primary human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection undergoing different rates of disease progression. The relative level and degree of maturation of all cell populations decreased significantly in untreated individuals with acute infection. The most dramatic changes were observed in the rapid progressor group, correlating with their rate of clinical progression. Levels of mDCs remained lower than normal throughout follow-up for both rapid progressors who responded to antiretroviral therapy (ART) and untreated normal progressors. In contrast, mDC precursors were restored to normal levels during subsequent phases of infection in both rapid and normal progressors, and these levels were increased in long-term nonprogressors. pDC levels followed the pattern of CD4+ T cell fluctuations. These findings provide evidence for an ongoing process affecting mDCs after successful ART and despite nonprogressing clinical disease following HIV infection.