Effects of interleukin-7 on disease progression in HIV/AIDS patients from China
Objective To investigate the effects of IL 7 on disease progression in HIV/AIDS patients. Methods Plasma IL 7 levels of 66 HIV/AIDS patients and 8 healthy controls were determined by an ultrasensitive ELISA, its relations with CD4+ T cells, plasma viral load and HIV phenotypes were analysed. T lymphocyte proliferation and CXCR4 expression of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from healthy donors were cocultured with rhIL 7, followed by flow cytometry. Results Significant high level IL 7 was found in HIV/AIDS patients( P 0.05 ), IL 7 level was negatively correlated with CD4+ T cell absolute count( P 0.01) and positively correlated with plasma viral load( P 0.05). Conclusion rhIL 7 may induce T lymphocyte proliferation and up regulate CXCR4 expression in vitro , so IL 7 plasma level may be function as a potential marker of HIV disease progression.