Assessing B cell subsets changes in HIV subjects receiving a dendritic cell immunotherapy.

摘要

Dendritic cells (DC) have a central role in cell-mediated immunity and they are today in the middle of many immunotherapy strategies. Recently, a clinical trial was initiated at the Montreal Chest Institute, to evaluate the effect of an immunotherapy (AGS-004) containing autologous DC to amplify the T cell immune responses of HIV-1-infected subjects. However, concerns have been raised that B cell activation following DC immunotherapy may lead to the development of autoimmune diseases. Here, we studied the safety, patient tolerance and changes in total B cells and B cell subsets following administration of AGS-004 in ten HIV-1 subjects receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART). Clinically, AGS-004 was safe, well tolerated and caused few mild side effects. Moreover, CD4 and CD8 cell counts and HIV-1 viral load were unchanged throughout the 48-weeks follow-up study period. In addition, total B cells and B cell subsets, which were measured as an indicator of the immune activation status, did not change over time, except that the proportion of B memory cells significantly increased after receiving the AGS-004 immunotherapy (P=0.005). Collectively, these data show that the AGS-004 is relatively well tolerable and induces an increase in B memory cells. Further investigations would need to be done to confirm the presence of an activated immune status including functional properties of these B memory cells and antibody measurements.