RESUMO
The expression of L-selectin (CD62L) in HIV-1 infection has not been extensively investigated. Here, we measured CD62L expression on T-cell subsets of HIV-1-infected individuals naive for antiretroviral therapy (ART-naive) or receiving therapy (ART), and seronegative control subjects (HIV-neg). We found reduced frequencies of CD62L(+) cells among CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells from ART-naive as compared with ART and HIV-neg groups, particularly within naive and central memory subsets. CD62L expression on T cells inversely correlated with viral load and rapidly increased after ART initiation. Plasma sCD62L levels did not correlate with CD62L expression, being higher in all HIV-1-infected individuals as compared with HIV-neg subjects. Finally, CD62L downregulation was found associated with the expression of the CD38 activation marker in CD8(+) T cells, but not in CD4(+) T cells. We suggest that CD62L downregulation due to unconstrained HIV-1 replication may have important consequences for T-cell circulation and function and for disease progression.