Study Of Immune Status Of HIV-negative Men Who Have Sex With Men And The Effect Of Sexually Transmitted Diseases On Their Cytokine Levels

Purpose: Men who have sex with men(MSM)refers to men who have sex with men.The National medium-and long-term Strategic Plan for the Prevention and treatment of AIDS has identified men who have sex with men as high-risk groups for HIV infection,and is also a potential bridge for the spread of HIV to the general population.In recent years,the HIV infection rate among MSM has been on the rise.In addition,the prevalence of syphilis,gonorrhea,chlamydia,and other sexually transmitted diseases among MSM has also been increasing.Therefore,clarifying the immune status of HIV-negative MSM is essential for the prevention and control of HIV and sexually transmitted diseases.However,there is a lack of systematic studies on the immune status of this population,and the effect of sexually transmitted diseases on the immune status of MSM has rarely been reported.In this study,we systematically compared the expression levels of chemokines and inhibitory receptors and activation and killing activity of immune cells between HIV-negative MSM and non-MSM for the first time,and further investigated the effect of STDs on the levels of inflammatory cytokines in HIV-negative MSM,and our results provide laboratory data for disease prevention and treatment in MSM population and STDs-infected patients.Methods: In this study,210 MSM individuals and 104 HIV serologically negative non-MSM individuals were selected,and the expression levels of chemokines CXCL9,CXCL10,CXCL11 and inflammatory factors TNF,IL-12p70,IL-1β,IL-6,IL-8,IL-10 were detected by R&D ELISA assay kits and BD human inflammatory factor assay kits,respectively.The changes of chemokines and cytokines were examined to study the expression levels of chemokines and cytokines in different study subjects and to analyze the correlation between them and different indexes;secondly,the expression levels of HLA-DR,CD38 and NKp46 on the surface of CD4+ T cells,CD8+ T cells and NK cells were detected by flow cytometry to compare the immune cell activation functions of different study subjects,and to compare the expression levels of CD4+ T cells,CD8+ T cells and NK cells with PD-1,CTLA-4,Lag-3 and TIGIT co-inhibitory receptors;finally,the level of IFN-r and CD107 a degranulation of CD4+ T cells,CD8+ T cells and NK cells was assessed.Results: 1.The expression levels of CXCL9(p=0.038),CXCL10(p=<0.001)and CXCL11(p=0.015)were significantly higher in HIV serologically negative MSM.2.The expression levels of PD-1,CTLA-4 and Lag-3 on the surface of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells were not significantly different in the two groups.The expression levels of NK cells,CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell surface activation markers were not significantly different in the two groups.3.The level of IFN-γ secretion by NK cells was lower in the HIV-negative MSM population than in the non-MSM group(p=0.038);the level of IFN-γ secretion by CD4+and CD8+ T cells was lower than in the non-MSM group,but not yet significantly different(p=0.175,p=0.080);the level of CD107 a secretion by NK cells,CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in the two groups were not significantly different.4.Syphilis,HPV infection and CT/NG infection all increased the expression levels of inflammatory cytokines in men who have sex with men to different degrees.Conclusion: 1.The expression levels of CXCL9,CXCL10 and CXCL11 were significantly higher in HIV serologically negative MSM.2.CTLA-4(p=0.008)and Lag-3(p=0.018)expression in NK cell is significantly higher in MSM than in non-MSM.3.The level of IFN-γ secretion by NK cells was significantly lower in the MSM population than in the non-MSM group(p=0.038).4.Sexually transmitted diseases elevated the levels of inflammatory factors in MSM individual.