Brief Report

Abstract

The implications of thymopoiesis in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) - related opportunistic infections (OI) remain unexplored. We used progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), caused by JC virus, as an OI model and we simultaneously investigated thymic output and T-cell responses against JCV in 22 PML patients treated with combined antiretroviral therapy. Thymic output was significantly associated with JCV-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell responses and improved survival. Our data suggest that patients with AIDS-related PML and impaired thymopoiesis are less likely to develop a robust JCV-specific cellular immune response and consequently are at an increased risk for a poor clinical outcome.

Lack of specific T- and B-cell clonal expansions in multiple sclerosis patients with progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy

“…Previous data suggest that the containment of JCV infection is critically dependent on specific CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocyte response 30 . For examples, PML that occurs in HIV-infected patients, knowing to have an impaired thymopoiesis, and therefore less likely to develop a robust JCV-specific cellular immune response 31 , benefits from highly active antiretroviral therapies that induce a recovery of anti-JCV T-cell immunity 32–34 . Antiretroviral therapy, that stimulates thymic output, participates to immune responses against viral pathogens by providing a TR repertoire with broad antigenic specificity 35,36 .…”