HIV is continuing to be one of the biggest global health challenges. Human immune system is the target of HIV attack and meanwhile the major defender that fights against HIV. Modulation of the immune system is one of the most effective strategies not only in the intervention during clinical course, but also towards a HIV “cure”. Although antiretroviral therapy (ART) is able to suppress HIV-1 replication and allows patients to live a relatively normal life, strategies need to be developed to solve the remaining problems in the ART era and thoroughly remove the burden of HIV infection.
HIV easily causes genetic mutations and is initially divided into type 1 (HIV-1) and type 2 (HIV-2). The former type is classified into 4 subtypes, namely M, N, O and P. Among them, HIV-1-M (major) spreads globally, which can be further divided into a large number of subspecies, involving 9 subtypes and about 100 recombinant epidemic strains formed by recombination between subtypes. These subtypes of HIV-1 are differentially prevalent in the world. The main epidemic strains of HIV-1 in Europe, America and Japan are subtype B, and that in East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa and South Asia are CRF01_AE and subtype C, respectively.
While countries in East and Southeast Asia share the similar epidemic strains, the detection of HIV-infected people in these regions is also generally late. Due to the late detection, different disease spectrums, special immune characteristics and viral genetic characteristics have led to rapid disease progression and a higher incidence of poor immune reconstitution among people living with HIV in East and Southeast Asia. Due to these issues, the path of individualized treatment of immunization strategies to achieve functional cure may also be different from other regions. This Research Topic aims to bring together recent advances on the basic, clinical and translational studies on the immune response to HIV infection in East and Southeast Asia. We encourage submission of Original Research from East and Southeast Asia covering but not limited to the following sub-topics. We also welcome Reviews on ART and before ART for the following topics (Reviews can go beyond Asia area).
1. Innate and adaptive immune mechanisms involved in HIV pathogenesis;
2. Immune-related studies on HIV co-infection with other diseases such as hepatitis, tuberculosis, and COVID-19;
3. Immune mechanisms and interventions in the field of persistent immune activation, inflammation, and aging;
4. Mechanisms of incomplete immune reconstitution;
5. Immunological approaches to HIV cure
6. HIV reservoir;
7. Mechanisms of intestinal mucosal dysfunction and microbial translocation;
8. Immune mechanisms in the occurrence of non-AIDS diseases in HIV-infected patients.
HIV is continuing to be one of the biggest global health challenges. Human immune system is the target of HIV attack and meanwhile the major defender that fights against HIV. Modulation of the immune system is one of the most effective strategies not only in the intervention during clinical course, but also towards a HIV “cure”. Although antiretroviral therapy (ART) is able to suppress HIV-1 replication and allows patients to live a relatively normal life, strategies need to be developed to solve the remaining problems in the ART era and thoroughly remove the burden of HIV infection.
HIV easily causes genetic mutations and is initially divided into type 1 (HIV-1) and type 2 (HIV-2). The former type is classified into 4 subtypes, namely M, N, O and P. Among them, HIV-1-M (major) spreads globally, which can be further divided into a large number of subspecies, involving 9 subtypes and about 100 recombinant epidemic strains formed by recombination between subtypes. These subtypes of HIV-1 are differentially prevalent in the world. The main epidemic strains of HIV-1 in Europe, America and Japan are subtype B, and that in East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa and South Asia are CRF01_AE and subtype C, respectively.
While countries in East and Southeast Asia share the similar epidemic strains, the detection of HIV-infected people in these regions is also generally late. Due to the late detection, different disease spectrums, special immune characteristics and viral genetic characteristics have led to rapid disease progression and a higher incidence of poor immune reconstitution among people living with HIV in East and Southeast Asia. Due to these issues, the path of individualized treatment of immunization strategies to achieve functional cure may also be different from other regions. This Research Topic aims to bring together recent advances on the basic, clinical and translational studies on the immune response to HIV infection in East and Southeast Asia. We encourage submission of Original Research from East and Southeast Asia covering but not limited to the following sub-topics. We also welcome Reviews on ART and before ART for the following topics (Reviews can go beyond Asia area).
1. Innate and adaptive immune mechanisms involved in HIV pathogenesis;
2. Immune-related studies on HIV co-infection with other diseases such as hepatitis, tuberculosis, and COVID-19;
3. Immune mechanisms and interventions in the field of persistent immune activation, inflammation, and aging;
4. Mechanisms of incomplete immune reconstitution;
5. Immunological approaches to HIV cure
6. HIV reservoir;
7. Mechanisms of intestinal mucosal dysfunction and microbial translocation;
8. Immune mechanisms in the occurrence of non-AIDS diseases in HIV-infected patients.
