Work

Sex differences in HIV-1-mediated immunopathology

Year: 2016

Type: review

Abstract: PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The article reviews our current knowledge regarding the role of sex and sex hormones in regulating innate immune responses to viral infections, which may account for the described sex differences in immunity to HIV-1. RECENT FINDINGS: Prominent sex differences exist in various infectious and autoimmune diseases. Biological mechanisms underlying these differences include the modulation of immunological pathways by sex hormones and gene dosage effects of immunomodulatory genes encoded by the X chromosome. During HIV-1 infections, women have been shown to present with lower viral load levels in primary infection, although their progression to AIDS is faster in comparison with men when accounting for viral load levels in chronic infection. HIV-1-infected women furthermore tend to have higher levels of immune activation and interferon-stimulated gene expression in comparison with men for the same viral load, which has been associated to innate sensing of HIV-1 by Toll-like receptor 7 and the consequent interferon-α production by plasmacytoid dendritic cells. SUMMARY: Improvement in understanding the mechanisms associated with sex differences in HIV-1-mediated immunopathology will be critical to take sex differences into consideration when designing experimental and clinical studies in HIV-1-infected populations.

Source: Current Opinion in HIV and AIDS

DOI: 10.1097/coh.0000000000000237

Authors: Susanne Ziegler, Marcus Altfeld

Institutions: Harvard University, Leibniz Institute of Virology (LIV), Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Language: English

Topic: HIV Research and Treatment

Subfield: Virology

Field: Immunology and Microbiology

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funder: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases