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We evaluated the impact of cytomegalovirus (CMV)-induced immune responses, autoimmune-induced immune responses, and microbial translocation on immune activation in 191 human immunodeficiency virus type 1-infected patients from the ANRS CO3 Aquitaine Cohort. All enrolled subjects had achieved long-term virological suppression during receipt of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART). HLA-DR(+)/CD38(+) expression was 16.8% among CD8(+) T cells. Independent of age, CD4(+) T-cell count, 16S ribosomal DNA load, and regulatory T-cell count, positive results of Quantiferon CMV analysis (P = .02), positive results of CMV-pp65 enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot analysis (P = .01), positive results of CMV-pp65-specific CD8(+) T-cell analysis (P = .05), and CMV seropositivity (P = .01) were associated with a higher percentage of CD8+ T cells that expressed HLA-DR+/CD38+. Autoimmune response and microbial translocation were not associated with immune activation. Therefore, the CMV-induced immune response seems to be associated with chronic immune activation in cART recipients with sustained virological suppression.

We have characterized the heterogeneity of human blood NK cell subsets defined by expression of KIR, lectin like receptors and NK cell differentiation markers within a cohort of 51 healthy Caucasian individuals. High inter‐individual variability in cell surface expression of most NK cell markers is observed. Range values defining NK cell subsets in healthy donors were further used as references to characterize 14 patients with NK‐type lymphoproliferative disease of granular lymphocytes (NK‐LDGL). Alterations of the KIR repertoire were noted in all NK‐LDGL patients. NK cell expansions were classified as oligoclonal KIR+ or as non‐detectable KIR (ndKIR) using anti‐KIR2DL1/2DS1, anti‐KIR2DL2/2DL3/2DS2, anti‐KIR3DL1 and anti‐KIR2DS4 monoclonal antibodies. A major reduction in the size of the CD56bright NK cell subset was a constant feature of NK‐LDGL. Altered distribution of CD94+, CD161+, and CD162R+ NK cell subsets was also observed in NK‐LDGL patients. Considering the potential role of NK cells in eliminating tumors or virus‐infected cells, the reference values defined in this study should be valuable to characterize both quantitative and qualitative alterations of the NK cell repertoire in pathological conditions and to monitor NK cell reconstitution following hematopoietic transplantation.