Comparison of the Vβ Repertoire in Peripheral Blood and in Lymph Nodes of HIV-Infected Subjects Reveals Skewed Usage Predominantly in CD8+T Cells

Perturbations of the repertoire of variable-β (Vβ) regions of the T cell receptor have been observed in patients infected by HIV and have been attributed to stimulation by viral antigens or superantigens. We further sought for traces of HIV-induced perturbations by comparing Vβ repertoire in peripheral blood and in lymphoid tissues of six infected patients. Vβ expression was studied with a panel of 17 anti-Vβ antibodies covering about 50% of the entire repertoire. We observed major divergences between lymph nodes and peripheral blood in the expression of several Vβ segments, and these differences were significantly more frequent in CD8+than in CD4+T cells (P= 0.0097). Vβ2 was perturbed in CD8 cells from all but one patient. One HIV-negative subject with localized reactive lymphadenopathy of unknown etiology had four perturbed Vβ segments, including Vβ2, in CD8+cells, while another uninfected subject with an unreactive lymph node architecture had no perturbations. Our findings suggest that stimulation by HIV or by other antigens determines divergences in the Vβ repertoire between lymphoid tissues and peripheral blood predominantly in CD8+ T cells.