Higher macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1α and MIP-1β levels from CD8+ T cells are associated with asymptomatic HIV-1 infection

To test the hypothesis that beta -chemokine levels may be relevant to the control of HN in vivo, we compared RANTES, MIP-1 alpha, and MIP-1 beta production from purified CD8(+) T cells from 81 HIV-infected subjects and from 28 uninfected donors. Asymptomatic HIV+ subjects produced significantly higher levels of MIP-1 alpha and MIP-1 beta, but not RANTES, than uninfected donors or patients that progressed to AIDS. In contrast, beta chemokines in plasma were either nondetectable or showed no correlation with clinical status. The high beta -chemokine-mediated anti-HIV activity was against the macrophage tropic isolate HIV-1(BAL), with no demonstrable effect on the replication of the T-cell tropic HIV-1(IIIB) These findings suggest that constitutive beta -chemokine production may play an important role in the outcome of HIV-1 infection.