Premature induction of an immunosuppressive regulatory T cell response during acute simian immunodeficiency virus infection

Here we report the results of an investigation into the possibility that one mechanism responsible for the establishment of persistent human immunodeficiency virus infection is an early regulatory T (T_reg) cell response that blunts virus-specific responses. Using the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)-infected rhesus macaque model, we show that, indeed, viral replication and immune activation in lymphatic tissue drive a premature immunosuppressive response, with dramatic increases in the frequencies of CD4⁺CD25⁺FOXP3⁺ T_reg cells, transforming growth factor-β1⁺ cells, interleukin-10⁺ cells, and indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase⁺CD3⁺ cells. When we compared SIV infection with rhesus cytomegalovirus (RhCMV) infection, we found that the frequency of T_reg cells paralleled the magnitude of immune activation during both infections but that the magnitude of immune activation and of the T_reg cell response were lower and peaked much later during RhCMV infection. Importantly, the frequency of T_reg cells inversely correlated with the magnitude of the SIV-specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte response. We conclude that an early T_reg cell response during acute SIV infection may contribute to viral persistence by prematurely limiting the antiviral immune response before infection is cleared.