Affiliations: IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute-HIVACAT, Hospital
Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, 08916 Badalona, Universitat Autònoma de
Barcelona, Spain | Instituciò Catalana de Recerca i Estudis
Avançats (ICREA), Barcelona, Spain
Abstract: HIV infection, if left untreated, leads in most cases to the
development of wide immune deterioration, opportunistic infections and
eventually AIDS and death. The identification of individuals who despite
persisting infection show no or few signs of HIV disease progression has
spurred hopes that an effective HIV vaccine could be attainable. The design of
such a vaccine will greatly depend on the precise definition of disease
markers, host genetic and immune characteristics that mediate relative in
vivo control of this virus. Accordingly, a number of viral factors and host
genetic characteristics have been shown to play a crucial role in the control
of HIV disease by delaying progression to AIDS or even preventing infection.
There is also an improved understanding of humoral and cellular immune
responses in terms of specificity, functional repertoire, longevity and tissue
distribution and their ability to contain HIV replication. However, the
definition of good immune correlates unequivocally and causally associated with
protection or disease progression remains elusive. Here we review work on viral
factors, host genetic markers and immunological determinants that have been
identified in individuals with superior control of HIV infection or in subjects
who remain uninfected despite frequent exposure to the viral pathogen.
