Frequencies of lymphoid T-follicular helper cells obtained longitudinally by lymph node fine-needle aspiration correlate significantly with viral load in SIV-infected rhesus monkeys

摘要

Background T-follicular helper (T-FH) cells are an important population in lymph nodes (LNs) contributing to the generation of highly specific B cells. For SW studies in rhesus macaques (RM.), analysis of LN is necessary, but restricted due to invasive sampling. We applied the minimally invasive LN fine-needle aspiration (LN-FA) and examined dynamics of T-FH cells during SW infection.