Persistent inflammation contributes to the exhaustion of immune system and non-AIDS-defining events in HIV-infected patients. Transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) is generally considered an anti-inflammatory cytokine. It is unclear that why high-level TGF-β coexists with chronic inflammation during HIV infection. In this study, it was found that HIV-infected patients had lower proportion of phosphorylated SMAD2/3-positive cells among total CD3+ T cells and subsets of CD3+CD8+ and CD3+CD8- T cells when compared with health subjects. The findings implied that phosphorylation of SMAD2/3 is inhibited in HIV-infected patients, and that disturbance of TGF-β/SMAD2/3 signaling pathway may be involved in HIV-related chronic inflammation.
Keywords: AIDS; HIV; SMAD2/3; TGF-β; inflammation.