Depletion and functional impairment of circulating plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) are characteristic attributes of HIV-1-infection. The mechanism of dysfunction of pDCs is unclear. Here, we studied the development of phenotype of pDCs in a cohort of HIV-1-infected individuals monitored before the initiation and during a 9-month follow up with antiretroviral therapy (ART). Using polychromatic flow cytometry, we detected significantly higher pDC-surface expression of the HIV-1 receptor CD4, regulatory receptor BDCA-2, Fcγ receptor CD32, pDC dysfunction marker TIM-3, and the marker of killer pDC, TRAIL, in treatment-naïve HIV-1-infected individuals before initiation of ART when compared to healthy donors. After 9 months of ART, all of these markers approached but did not reach the expression levels observed in healthy donors. We found that the rate of decline in HIV-1 RNA level over the first 3 months of ART negatively correlated with the expression of TIM-3 on pDCs. We conclude that immunogenic phenotype of pDCs is not significantly restored after sustained suppression of HIV-1 RNA level in ART-treated patients and that the level of the TIM-3 expressed on pDCs in treatment naïve patients could be a predictive marker of the rate of decline in the HIV-1 RNA level during ART.

Department of Genetics and Microbiology Charles University Faculty of Sciences BIOCEV 25242 Vestec Czech Republic

Department of Immunology and Microbiology Charles University The 1st Faculty of Medicine BIOCEV 25242 Vestec Czech Republic

Institute of Molecular Genetics of the Czech Academy of Sciences 14220 Prague Czech Republic

Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences IOCB and Gilead Research Center 16610 Prague Czech Republic

The 1st Faculty of Medicine Charles University and Hospital Na Bulovce 18081 Prague Czech Republic

The 3rd Faculty of Medicine Charles University and Hospital Na Bulovce 18081 Prague Czech Republic

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