The lectin pathway of complement: Advantage or disadvantage in HIV pathogenesis?

• The lectin pathway of complement has known functions in host-virus interactions.
• Mannan-binding lectin (MBL), the ficolins and collectin-11 initiates the pathway.
• The impact of MBL on HIV-pathogenesis has been evaluated in several studies.
• Recent research suggests functions of the ficolins in viral pathogenesis.
• These findings warrants research of the ficolins and impact on HIV-pathogenesis.

The pattern recognition molecules of the lectin complement pathway are important components of the innate immune system with known functions in host–virus interactions. This paper summarizes current knowledge of how these intriguing molecules, including mannose-binding lectin (MBL), Ficolin-1, -2 and -3, and collectin-11 (CL-11) may influence HIV-pathogenesis. It has been demonstrated that MBL is capable of binding and neutralizing HIV and may affect host susceptibility to HIV infection and disease progression. In addition, MBL may cause variations in the host immune response against HIV. Ficolin-1, -2 and -3 and CL-11 could have similar functions in HIV infection as the ficolins have been shown to play a role in other viral infections, and CL-11 resembles MBL and the ficolins in structure and binding capacity.