Polyfunctional CD4+ T cell responses in HIV-1-infected viral controllers compared with those in healthy recipients of an adjuvanted polyprotein HIV-1 vaccine

AbstractA recombinant fusion protein (F4) consisting of HIV-1 p17, p24, reverse transcriptase (RT) and Nef, adjuvanted with AS01, induced strong and broad CD4+ T cell responses in healthy volunteers. Here we compare these vaccine-induced CD4+ T cell responses with the ones induced by natural infection in patients with varying disease courses.Thirty-eight HIV-infected, antiretroviral treatment-naïve subjects were classified into four categories: 8 long-term non-progressors (infection ≥7 years; CD4+ T cells ≥500/μL), 10 recently infected individuals (infection ≤2 years; CD4+ T cells ≥500/μL), 10 typical early progressors (CD4+ T cells ≤350/μL), and 10 viral controllers (plasma HIV-1 RNA