The impact of pregnancy on the HIV-1-specific T cell function in infected pregnant women

Evidences indicate that pregnancy can alter the Ag-specific T-cell responses. This work aims to evaluate the impact of pregnancy on the in vitro HIV-1-specific immune response. As compared with non-pregnant patients, lower T-cell proliferation and higher IL-10 production were observed in T-cell cultures from pregnant patients following addition of either mitogens or HIV-1 antigens. In our system, the main T lymphocyte subset involved in producing IL-10 was CD4+FoxP3−. Depletion of CD4+ cells elevated TNF-α and IFN-γ production. Interestingly, the in vitro HIV-1 replication was lower in cell cultures from pregnant patients, and it was inversely related to IL-10 production. In these cultures, the neutralization of IL-10 by anti-IL-10 mAb elevated TNF-α release and HIV-1 replication. In conclusion, our results reveal that pregnancy-related events should favor the expansion of HIV-1-specific IL-10-secreting CD4+ T-cells in HIV-1-infected women, which should, in the scenario of pregnancy, help to reduce the risk of vertical HIV-1 transmission.

► Pregnancy reduces HIV-1-specific T cell proliferation and enhances IL-10 production.
► Pregnancy elevates the frequency of IL-10-producing CD4+FoxP3− T-cells in HIV-1-infected women.
► Lower in vitro HIV-1 replication was directly related to higher in vitro IL-10 production.
► The neutralization of IL-10 elevated HIV-1 replication by enhancing TNF-α release.