Fig. 8: HIV⁺ patients have an increased abundance of PD-1^hiCD25^hiIFN-γ⁺AREG^hiFOXP3⁺ cells correlating with CD4⁺ T cell hyperactivation in the oral mucosa.

HOILs from gingival mucosa from healthy controls and HIV⁺ patients on cART were processed for flow cytometry ex vivo. A FOXP3 expression in CD3⁺CD4⁺ gated HOIL cells. PD-1 and IFN-γ (B), IL-10 (C), AREG (D), and BCL-2 (E) expression in FOXP3⁺ population. Statistical analyses and comparison between the groups for % PD-1^hiIFN-γ⁺ cells (n = 20; **P = 0.0025) (F), % PD-1^hi cells (n = 35; **P = 0.005) (G), % IL-10⁺ cells (n = 22; *P = 0.024) (H), AREG expression (n = 22; ***P = 0.0002) (I), and BCL-2 expression (n = 12; **P = 0.0022) (J) in FOXP3⁺ population. K ELISA quantification of AREG levels in saliva (n = 78; *P < 0.03). L, M Correlation of % PD-1^hiCD25⁺ cells in FOXP3⁺ population (L) and salivary AREG (M), with effector CD4 hyperactivation (% CD38⁺HLADR⁺ in FOXP3^negCD4⁺ T cells in gingival mucosa; Fig. 1E; n = 20). F–K P values two-tailed; Mann–Whitney test; each data point represents a study participant, and the data are presented as mean value +/− SEM. Source data are provided as a Source data file.