1993 Volume 37 Issue 5 Pages 383-390
The level of sCD23 produced in the course of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection was measured in patients grouped according to the Centers for Disease Control by using an immunoradiometric assay. Soluble CD23 was evaluated in supernatants of peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) (106cells/ml) stimulated by phytohemagglutinin (PHA). Compared with healthy controls (m±S.D.=1.0±0.34U/ml, n=7), higher values were observed in some of the patients of group II (asymptomatic) (m±S.D.=2±1.33, n=9) and some of the patients of group IV (AIDS) (m±S.D.=1.3±1.40, n=8). Those results prompted us to compare the plasma levels of sCD23 in group II and group IV HIV-infected patients and in healthy individuals. Soluble CD23 plasma levels in healthy patients (n=42) ranged from 0 to 1.5U/ml (m±S.D.=0.9±0.33), in group II patients (n=17) from 0 to 3U/ml (m±S.D.=0.92±0.83) and in group IV patients (n=73) from 0 to 2.9U/ml (m±S.D.=1.15±0.71). The differences between the patients and the healthy individuals were not statistically significant but individual sCD23 values higher than 2U/ml were obtained in 6% of the group II patients and 16.7% of the group IV patients. Increased values of sCD23 were obtained in plasma from patients with secondary infectious diseases (groups IV-C1 and IV-C2) and from patients without secondary infectious diseases (group II, group IV-A and group IV-B). Elevated values of sCD23 were detected even in patients with low counts of CD4+ T cells and CD8+ T cells in their peripheral blood. sCD23 has numerous activities including control of IgE synthesis and cytokine-like properties. Our results show a disarray of sCD23 in HIV-infected patients which could be involved in drug reactions, allergic manifestations and the IgE-level increase. Further investigations should attempt to define the role of sCD23 in clinical manifestations of HIV infection.
