The Histopathological Change And Microbial Translocation From The Gastrointestinal Tract In SIVmac239 Infected Chinese Rhesus Macaques

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is the pathogen of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Infecting with HIV can not only lead the decrease of CD4+ T cells in blood and mucosa, but also the inversion of the ratio of CD4/CD8, and the damage of several functional organs of the host. One of the most common injured organs is gastrointestinal tract.Non-human primate shows high similarities in the organization, metabolism and immunity from human.The morbid progresses and features are also congenial between non-human primate infecting with simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) and human infecting with HIV. So, non-human primates are widely used as animal models for the study of AIDS.In the present study,4 Chinese rhesus macaques that died from the infection of SIVmac239 were used as participants. According to the difference of dead time, two of them that died within 25 weeks after inoculation were identified as rapid progressors, the rests that died over 106 weeks were identified as slow progressors. By the methods of histopathology and immunology, the pathological changes of gastrointestinal tracts, the variation of intestinal immune cells, and the translocation of microbial products were explored. After that, the differences of these changes were also compared between the rapid and slow progressors. From the results of pathological sections, viral particles were found in the gastrointestinal tracts of all the macaques. Additionally, the erosion of mucosa and the infiltration of inflammatory cells and the translocation of microbial products in the gastrointestinal tracts were much more serious in slow progressors than those in rapid progressors, the phagocytosis of intestinal macrophages was also significantly weakened in the group of slow progressors.Pathological changes of organs/tissues could visualize the physical damage of viral infection, the relationship between virus-host, and the rate of disease progression. From the present study, the pathological and immunological changes in gastrointestinal tract of SIV infected Chinese rhesus macaques were explored, this might provide some references to study the gastrointestinal tract damages of AIDS persons, the mechanism of HIV infection, the candidates of vaccines, and the pharmacodynamic action of anti-HIV drugs.