How does HIV cause polyclonal B cell activation?
Anything foreign will cause the activation of the immune system (B cells and T cells). In an HIV infection B cells can also express levels of CD4 but in a lower amount and have been infected in vitro, there are no conclusive data indicating that these cells became infected in vivo. Rather, the virus itself or viral proteins appear to directly interact with and stimulate uninfected cells. Other potential contributors to this polyclonal activation include concurrent viral infections. http://www.health.
