Increased interleukin-6 production is associated with disease progression in HIV infection

High expression levels of B lymphocyte stimulator (BLyS) by dendritic cells correlate with HIV-related B-cell disease progression in humans

“…13 Importantly, BLyS and factors such as interleukin-6 (IL-6) and IL-10 have been shown to be increased in the blood of HIV viremic individuals and correlate with elevated serum autoantibody titers. [14][15][16] Finally, we and others have shown that mDC populations are affected in number, phenotype, and function in human HIV infection, [17][18][19][20] suggesting that their alterations may affect the integrity of the B-cell compartment.…”

Mutual interactions between HIV-1 and cytokines in adherent cells during acute infection

“…In conclusion, the cytokines induced by HIV during infection of cells from solid tissues have strong potentialities as biological modifiers of virus infection; they may contribute to increase cytokine serum levels in the infected patients [5,6,10,18], thus increasing HIV production by PBMC. More importantly, local levels of cytokines may strongly increase virus spread, activating a self-maintaining mechanism of infection.…”

Immune Dysfunction and the Pathogenesis of AIDS-associated non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma

“…In the past, we have devoted much of our attention to elucidating the role of IL6 in AIDS pathogenesis, working in collaboration with Tadamitsu Kishimoto. We were the first to report that exposure of human monocytes to HIV leads to IL6 gene expression and secretion , and that elevated levels of IL6 and C'-reactive protein (CRP, an acute-phase reactant induced by IL6) are seen in HIV-infection (Breen et al 1990), work that has been confirmed by others (Birx et al 1990, Honda et al 1991, Lafeuillade et al 1991, Rautonen et al 1991, de Wit et al 1991, Clouse et al 1991). In subsequent studies, we found that gp41 is the HIV-encoded product responsible for inducing IL6 production by monocytes (Takeshida et al 1995).…”