Fig. 7: Plasma soluble factor associations with MAIT cell phenotype and function in acute HIV-1 infection.

a The fold change compared to pre-infection of plasma soluble factors (IFABP, sCD14, IL-6, and CRP) and total MAIT cell function after E. coli or PMA/ionomycin stimulation from individuals enrolled in the acute capture cohort, displayed longitudinally (n = 20). b Correlative analysis of plasma sCD14 fold over baseline at peak VL (median 16 days since first positive test for HIV-1 RNA) or set point VL (median 43 days since first positive test for HIV-1 RNA) with either the expression of activation markers (HLA-DR and PD-1) on MAIT cells, or the production of TNF and IFNγ in MAIT cells after PMA/ionomycin stimulation, respectively (n = 20). c Predictive correlation of plasma CRP at the peak VL time point with MAIT cell functionality after PMA/ionomycin stimulation at either the set point VL time point (median 43 days since first positive test for HIV-1 RNA), or the early chronic infection time point (median 85 days since first positive test for HIV-1 RNA) (n = 10). **p ≤ 0.01, ***p ≤ 0.001. In b and c, correlative analyses were performed using Spearman Rank correlation test. PBMC, Peripheral blood mononuclear cells. MAIT cells are identified as CD161++Vα7.2+ cells within CD3+CD14-CD19- live lymphocytes. VL viral load. IFABP intestinal fatty acid binding protein. sCD14 soluble CD14. CRP C-reactive protein. The source data underlying a are provided as a Source Data file.