Human hepatocytes depletion in the presence of HIV-1 infection in dual reconstituted humanized mice

Abstract

HIV-1 infection impairs liver function, and liver diseases have become a leading cause of morbidity in infected patients. The immunopathology of liver damage caused by HIV-1 remains unclear. We used chimeric mice dually reconstituted with a human immune system and hepatocytes to address the relevance of the model to pathobiology questions related to human hepatocytes survival in the presence of systemic infection. TK-NOG males were transplanted with mismatched human hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells and hepatocytes; human albumin concentration and the presence of human immune cells in blood were monitored for hepatocytes and immune reconstitution; and mice were infected with HIV-1. HIV-1-infected animals showed a decline in human albumin concentration with a significant reduction in percentage of human hepatocytes compared to uninfected mice. The decrease in human albumin levels correlated with a decline in CD4+ cells in the liver and with an increase in HIV-1 viral load. HIV-1 infection elicited proinflammatory response in the immunological milieu of the liver in HIV-infected mice compared to uninfected animals determined by upregulation of IL23, CXCL10 and multiple toll-like receptors expression. The inflammatory reaction associated with HIV-1 infection in vivo could contribute to the depletion and dysfunction of hepatocytes. Conclusion. The dual reconstituted TK-NOG mouse model is a feasible platform to investigate hepatocyte-related HIV-1 immunopathogenesis.