Innate Immune Responses and Gut Microbiomes Distinguish HIV-Exposed from HIV-Unexposed Children in a Population-Specific Manner.

Innate Immune Responses and Gut Microbiomes Distinguish HIV-Exposed from HIV-Unexposed Children in a Population-Specific Manner. J Immunol. 2020 Oct 16;: Authors: Amenyogbe N, Dimitriu P, Cho P, Ruck C, Fortuno ES, Cai B, Alimenti A, Côté HCF, Maan EJ, Slogrove AL, Esser M, Marchant A, Goetghebuer T, Shannon CP, Tebbutt SJ, Kollmann TR, Mohn WW, Smolen KK Abstract In both high- and low-income countries, HIV-negative children born to HIV-positive mothers (HIV exposed, uninfected [HEU]) are more susceptible to severe infection than HIV-unexposed, uninfected (HUU) children, with altered innate immunity hypothesized to be a cause. Both the gut microbiome and systemic innate immunity differ across biogeographically distinct settings, and the two are known to influence each other. And although the gut microbiome is influenced by HIV infection and may contribute to altered immunity, the biogeography of immune-microbiome correlations among HEU children have not been investigated. To address this, we compared the innate response and the stool microbiome of 2-y-old HEU and HUU children from Belgium, Canada, and South Africa to test the hypothesis that region-specific immune alterations directly correlate to differences in their stool microbiomes. We did not detect a universal immune or microbiome signature underlying differences between HEU versus HUU that was applicable to all children. But as hypothesized, population-specific differences i...
Source: Journal of Immunology - Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Tags: J Immunol Source Type: research