Figure 7
Assessment of alveolar macrophage (AM) function based on the HIV infection status of participants. Adherent AMs were incubated with reporter beads to measure phagocytosis, superoxide burst, and bulk proteolysis, and analyzed by flow cytometry. (a) Phagocytosis of reporter beads by large and small AMs (HIV−, n=25; HIV+, n=14). (b) Phagosomal superoxide burst activity in AMs from HIV-1-infected compared with HIV-1-uninfected participants (HIV−, n=25; HIV+, n=14). (c) Phagosomal proteolytic activity in AMs from HIV-1-infected compared with HIV-1-uninfected participants (HIV−, n=18; HIV+, n=11). The data in panels b and c are expressed as the Activity Index, which is the ratio of relative fluorescence units of the substrate fluorescence divided by the calibration fluorescence to ensure dosage correction for minor variations in bead number. Data were analyzed by Mann–Whitney U–test (HIV+ vs. HIV−) and Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranked test (small vs. large AMs) (a), or unpaired (HIV+ vs. HIV−) and paired Student’s t-test (small vs. large AMs) on log-transformed data (b,c); black horizontal bars represent medians (a) and means (b,c).
