Relationships between IL-10 mRNA expression and disease stage. IL-10 mRNA levels in bulk PBMCs were measured in HIV-negative subjects (n = 10; HIV-neg), HIV-infected elite controllers (n = 15; ELITE), HIV⁺ untreated patients (n = 20; UNTREATED), and antiretroviral drug-treated individuals, which included some subjects with suppressed viremia less than 50 copies/mL on HAART (n = 11; AVIR ARV) and others who remained viremic despite therapy (n = 12; VIR ARV). A significant difference was seen among these groups (P < .001; Kruskal Wallis test), reflecting a significant increase in IL-10 expression in HIV⁺ untreated and viremic-treated individuals compared with HIV-negative and elite controller subjects (P < .01 for all, Dunn posttest).