Microbial Translocation Correlates with the Severity of Both HIV-1 and HIV-2 Infections

Microbial translocation has been linked to systemic immune activation during human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type 1 infection. Here, we show that an elevated level of microbial translocation, measured as plasma lipopolysaccharide (LPS) concentration, correlates with AIDS in both individuals in-fected with HIV type 1 and individuals infected with HIV type 2. LPS concentration also correlates with CD4+ T cell count and viral load independently of HIV type. Further-more, elevated plasma LPS concentration was found to be concomitant with defective innate and mitogen responsive-ness. We suggest that microbial translocation may contribute to loss of CD4+ T cells, increase in viral load, and defective immune stimuli responsiveness during both HIV type 1 and HIV type 2 infections. © 2010 by the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved.