Fig. 3. Inflammatory mediators and microbial products may drive TF expression by circulating monocytes in the context of HIV infection (A).
Column-purified CD14+ monocytes from 10 healthy controls were cultured for 18h in the presence of RPMI medium supplemented with 10% manufactured human AB serum, or serum isolated from healthy controls, ART-naïve HIV+ patients or HCV+ individuals as described in Methods. (B) Monocytes were also cultured in the presence of serum from ART-naïve HIV-infected patients at different time points after ART initiation. (C) Monocytes were cultured for 18h in the presence of indicated blocking antibodies (10μg/mL) or with serum previously treated with polymyxin B (0.5μg/μL). Cells were washed and lysed for assessment of TF protein expression using ELISA. Unmatched data were analyzed using Mann Whitney U test whereas matched pairs were compared using Wilcoxon matched pairs test. * P<0.05, ** P<0.01, *** P<0.001. ns, nonsignificant.