HIV-1-infected persons are at higher risk of lower respiratory tract infections than HIV-1-
uninfected individuals. This suggests strongly that HIV-infected persons have specific
impairment of pulmonary immune responses, but current understanding of how HIV alters
pulmonary immunity is incomplete. Alveolar macrophages (AMs), comprising small and
large macrophages, are major effectors of innate immunity in the lung. We postulated that
HIV-1 impairs pulmonary innate immunity through impairment of AM physiological functions …