Trauma, stress, and HIV-associated immune cell levels in women

Abstract

Abstract Lifetime trauma, stress exposure, and current perceived stress are believed to lower immune responsiveness to infections but their effect on immune cell targets of HIV infection and pathogenesis are not known. We examined lifetime trauma and current perceived stress for associations with HIV target cells in genital mucosa and PBMC from 50 STI negative women of reproductive age. Validated scores for the number of traumatic exposures on the lifetime trauma and victimization history (LTVH) instrument, the 51-item Chronic Stress Scale (CSS) and the 10-item current perceived stress scale (PSS) were compiled. Paired cervicovaginal lavage (CVL) and blood samples were analyzed for T cell expression of CCR5 and activation markers (CD38, HLA-DR). Spearman correlations were used to evaluate associations between T cell subsets and LTVH, CSS, and PSS scores. LTVH number correlated with PBMC CD4/CD8 ratios and CCR5+ expression on CCR7+ CD4 T cells, but were inversely correlated with effector memory T cell frequency; CSS score was correlated CCR5+ expression on CCR7+ CD4 T cells. PSS scores were not correlated with T cell phenotypes. Genital tract T cell subsets were highly variable and not correlated with LTVH, CSS, or PSS scores. These findings suggest that increased lifetime trauma and chronic stress exposure is associated with shifts in circulating T cell populations that influence HIV susceptibility and its long-term pathogenesis. A better understanding of how lifetime trauma/stress exposure may affect immunologic mediators of HIV susceptibility, biomedical prevention efficacy, and HIV disease progression is warranted.