Figure 5

Levels of pro-inflammatory Vδ1⁺ cells correlate with gut-associated, but not plasma-associated, relative viral load. HIV gag RNA was quantified in PBMCs and intestinal pinch biopsies by qRT-PCR for HIV-uninfected (Neg) (n = 3), EC (n = 12), and VC (n = 2) subjects. Relative viral load (VL) was determined after normalizing the copies of gag to copies of RPS9. The average gut VL represents the mean VL across three intestinal compartments (transverse colon, duodenum, and terminal ileum). Subjects were divided into groups with detectable or undetectable viral load in any gut compartment or in the blood. (a,b) Summary data showing the percentage of pro-inflammatory (IFNγ⁺TNFα⁺MIP1β⁺) Vδ1⁺ cells out of total CD3⁺ cells, grouped by gut VL (a) or PBMC VL (b). Horizontal lines represent the median. A two-tailed Mann-Whitney test was used to compare the medians. (c) Spearman’s rank correlation between the average gut VL and the percentage of CD3⁺ cells that are pro-inflammatory Vδ1⁺.