@article{22067,
  keywords = {Adult, Antigens, CD20, Biopsy, Case-Control Studies, CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes, Female, Forkhead Transcription Factors, Granuloma, HIV Infections, Humans, Immunophenotyping, Interleukin-3 Receptor alpha Subunit, leprosy, Male, Middle Aged, Mycobacterium leprae, Poly(A)-Binding Proteins, Skin, Skin Diseases, Infectious, T-Cell Intracellular Antigen-1, Young Adult},
  author = {Massone C and Talhari C and Talhari S and Brunasso A M G and Campbell T M and Curcic P and Cerroni L and Ribeiro-Rodrigues R},
  title = {Immunophenotype of skin lymphocytic infiltrate in patients co-infected with Mycobacterium leprae and human immunodeficiency virus: a scenario dependent on CD8+ and/or CD20+ cells.},
  abstract = {<p><b>BACKGROUND: </b>Leprosy occurs rarely in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive patients. In contrast to tuberculosis, there has been no report to date of an increase in HIV prevalence among patients with leprosy or of differences in leprosy{\textquoteright}s clinical spectrum. While several studies describe the systemic immune response profile in patients co-infected with HIV and leprosy, the local immune skin response has been evaluated in only a small number of case reports and limited series of patients.</p><p><b>OBJECTIVE: </b>To investigate the interaction between Mycobacterium leprae and HIV infection in the skin.</p><p><b>METHODS: </b>We investigated the presence and frequency of cells positive for CD4, CD8, CD20, TIA-1, FOXP3 and CD123 in lymphocytic infiltrates from 16 skin biopsies taken from 15 patients with HIV-leprosy co-infection.</p><p><b>RESULTS: </b>CD4+ cells were absent in infiltrates from 6 (38\%) skin biopsies and present in 10 (62\%) cases at low levels (<1{\textperiodcentered}16\%) of the lymphocytic infiltrate. CD8+ was the predominant phenotype in the infiltrate (99{\textperiodcentered}4\%), followed by TIA-1, expressed by >75\% of CD8+ cells. FOXP3+ cells were also present, representing 3{\textperiodcentered}4\% of the lymphocytic infiltrate. CD20+ cells were detected in 75\% of the cases; however, in two cases (12\%) these cells represented 25-50\% of the infiltrate, while in the other 10 cases (62\%) they were present only focally (<25\% of the infiltrate). CD123+ cells were not observed in any of the studied specimens.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS: </b>Data presented here suggest that cell-mediated immune responses to M. leprae are preserved at the site of disease and that in the absence of CD4+ cells, CD8+FOXP3+ and CD20+ cells may be involved in granuloma formation.</p>},
  year = {2011},
  journal = {The British journal of dermatology},
  volume = {165},
  pages = {321-8},
  month = {2011 Aug},
  issn = {1365-2133},
  doi = {10.1111/j.1365-2133.2011.10412.x},
  language = {eng},
}