Impact of Interleukin-21 and anti-a4b7 antibody on microbiome composition

Sixteen captive Indian-origin rhesus macaques housed at Emory National Primate Center were infected with SIVmac239. Beginning at day 42, combination antiretroviral therapy was administered daily until day 503. At day 448, the macaques were separated into two groups (each n=8). The experimental group was administered 50 mg/kg anti-a4b7 mAb every three weeks from day 448 until day 574 and administered 100 ug/kg IL-21-IgFc weekly from day 448 until combination antiretroviral therapy interruption, which occurred for both groups at day 490. DNA was isolated from feces collected before SIV infection (baseline) and at days 36, 441, 504, and 518. 16S rRNA sequencing was performed by Illumina MiSeq.