Telomere length of memory T cells is shorter in male homosexual
HIV-1 infection
Telomeres are specialized structures comprised of tandem repeats of
TTAGGG located at the end of chromosomes and are essential for
chromosomal stability. An assessment of telomere length is used to
evaluate cellular replication history or senescent status. Moreover,
immune activation and microbial translocation are thought to drive
telomere shortening in HIV infection [21]. To investigate the impact
of chronic HIV infection and ART on the telomere length of distinct T
cell subsets, we further determined the telomere length of both naive
and memory T cells isolated from HIV patients. For naive T cells, there
was no significant alteration in telomere length between healthy
controls and HIV-infected patients, nor between the ART-naive patients
and ART-receiving patients. For memory T cells, however, ART-naive
patients had a significantly decreased telomere length compared to that
of healthy controls and ART-receiving patients, at 2.96 ± 2.40, 7.82 ±
3.58, and 6.27 ± 3.23, respectively (p < 0.0001 andp = 0.0058). However, the differences in telomere length between
the healthy controls and ART-receiving patients were not statistically
significant.