Production of beta-chemokines in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection: evidence that high levels of macrophage inflammatory protein-1beta are associated with a decreased risk of HIV disease progression

Macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1α, MIP-1β, and RANTES production were measured by ELISA in whole blood that had been stimulated for 4.5 h with phytohemagglutinin. The blood was from 90 healthy human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-negative controls and from 245 HIV-infected subjects who were followed for ≤4.5 years. HIV-infected persons without AIDS had increased levels of MIP-1α, MIP-1β, and RANTES (P < .01) compared with levels in controls. Subjects with AIDS, compared with controls, had decreased production levels of MIP-1β (P < .0001) and similar levels of MIP-1α and RANTES. A high level of MIP-1β production was associated with a decreased risk of progressing to AIDS or death, as determined by univariate analysis (P < .01) and adjusted for CD4 cell count and age (P = .07, P = .06, respectively). The findings suggest that the production level of β-chemokine changes during HIV infection and that a high level of β-chemokine production in peripheral blood lymphocytes may be associated with less rapid disease progression in HIV infection.