Comparison of the V beta 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-beta (V beta) regions of the T cell receptor have beep 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 V beta repertoire in peripheral blood and in lymphoid tissues of six infected patients. V beta expression was studied with a panel of 17 anti-V beta antibodies covering about 50% of the entire repertoire. We observed major divergences between lymph nodes and peripheral blood in the expression of several V beta segments, and these differences were significantly more frequent in CD8(+) than in CD4(+) T cells (P = 0.0097). V beta 2 was perturbed in CD8 cells from all but one patient. One HIV-negative subject with localized reactive lymphadenopathy of unknown etiology had four perturbed V beta segments, including V beta 2, 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 V beta repertoire between lymphoid tissues and peripheral blood predominantly in CD8+ T cells. (C) 1996 Academic Press, Inc.