Pathogenic mechanisms of B-lymphocyte dysfunction in HIV disease

HIV disease is associated with abnormalities in all major lymphocyte populations, including B cells. Aberrancies in the B-cell compartment can be divided into 3 broad categories: changes that arise as a result of HIV-induced immune activation, changes that arise as a result of HIV-induced lymphopenia, and changes that arise independently of these 2 parameters. We review recent developments in all 3 categories of abnormalities and highlight how observations made in the early years of the HIV epidemic are better understood today in large part because of the advent of effective antiretroviral therapy. Insight into the mechanisms of B-cell dysfunction in HIV disease has also been achieved as a result of increased knowledge of the B-cell subpopulations as they exist in healthy individuals, compared with their abnormalities in HIV-infected individuals. A better understanding of the pathogenic mechanisms of B-cell abnormalities in HIV disease can potentially lead to new strategies for improving antibody responses against opportunistic pathogens that afflict HIV-infected individuals and against HIV itself, in the context of both HIV infection and an antibody-based HIV vaccine.

Key words: HIV, B cells, immunopathogenesis, immune activation, lymphopenia, apoptosis

Abbreviations used: ART, Antiretroviral therapy, V_H3, Variable heavy-chain family member 3