Studies assessing the gut mucosal immune balance in HIV-infected patients using intestinal samples are scarce. In this study, we used intestinal mucosal specimens from the ileocecal region of seven immunological nonresponders (INRs), nine immunological responders (IRs), and six HIV-negative controls. We investigated T helper 17 (Th17) and T regulatory (Treg) cell counts and their ratio, zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1), intestinal fatty acid-binding protein (I-FABP), tumor necrosis factor-α, CD4+ T cell counts, HIV DNA, and cell-associated HIV RNA. The results showed that INRs had lower Th17 and higher Treg cell counts than IR, resulting in a significant difference in the Th17/Treg ratio between IRs and INRs. In addition, INRs had lower ZO-1 and higher I-FABP levels than IRs. The Th17/Treg ratio was positively associated with ZO-1 and negatively associated with I-FABP levels. There was a positive correlation between Th17/Treg ratio and CD4+ T cell counts and a negative correlation between the Th17/Treg ratio and HIV DNA in the intestine. Our study suggests that the imbalance of Th17/Treg in the intestine is a characteristic of incomplete immune reconstitution to antiretroviral therapy and is associated with intestinal damage.

中文翻译：

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肠道 Th17 和 Treg 细胞之间的失衡与 HIV 患者长期抗逆转录病毒治疗期间的不完全免疫重建有关。

使用肠道样本评估 HIV 感染患者肠道粘膜免疫平衡的研究很少。在这项研究中，我们使用了来自 7 名免疫无反应者 (INR)、9 名免疫反应者 (IR) 和 6 名 HIV 阴性对照者回盲部的肠粘膜标本。我们研究了 T 辅助细胞 17 (Th17) 和 T 调节 (Treg) 细胞计数及其比率、封闭小带-1 (ZO-1)、肠脂肪酸结合蛋白 (I-FABP)、肿瘤坏死因子-α、CD4+ T细胞计数、HIV DNA 和细胞相关的 HIV RNA。结果表明，与 IR 相比，INRs 具有较低的 Th17 和较高的 Treg 细胞计数，导致 IRs 和 INRs 之间的 Th17/Treg 比率存在显着差异。此外，与 IR 相比，INR 具有较低的 ZO-1 和较高的 I-FABP 水平。Th17/Treg 比率与 ZO-1 呈正相关，与 I-FABP 水平呈负相关。Th17/Treg 比率与 CD4+ T 细胞计数呈正相关，而 Th17/Treg 比率与肠道中的 HIV DNA 呈负相关。我们的研究表明，肠道中 Th17/Treg 的失衡是抗逆转录病毒治疗免疫重建不完全的一个特征，并且与肠道损伤有关。