B-cell depletion reveals a role for antibodies in the control of chronic HIV-1 infection
Huang KHG., Bonsall D., Katzourakis A., Thomson EC., Fidler SJ., Main J., Muir D., Weber JN., Frater AJ., Phillips RE., Pybus OG., Goulder PJR., McClure MO., Cooke GS., Klenerman P.
HIV can be partially contained by host immunity and understanding the basis of this may inform vaccine design. The importance of B-cell function in long-term control is poorly understood. One method of investigating this is in vivo cellular depletion. In this study, we take advantage of a unique opportunity to investigate the role of B cells in an HIV-infected patient. The HIV-1+ patient studied here was not taking antiretroviral drugs and was treated for pre-existing low-grade lymphoplasmacytoid lymphoma by depletion of CD20+ B cells using rituximab. We demonstrate that B-cell depletion results in a decline in autologous neutralizing antibody (NAb) responses and a 1.7 log10 rise in HIV-1 plasma viral load (pVL). The recovery of NAbs results in a decline in pVL. The HIV-1 sequences diversify and NAb-resistant mutants are subsequently selected. These data suggest that B-cell function can contribute to the long-term control of pVL, and that NAbs may be more important in controlling chronic HIV-1 infection than previously suspected. © 2010 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.