The upregulated transcripts restricted to elite controllers early in infection included genes involved in enhanced dendritic cell cross-presentation to antigen-specific CD8+ T cells, such as XCL1/lymphotactin (mean fold change of 4.8; p = 0.037 for elite controllers), combined with those involved in inhibiting HIV-1 entry into mononuclear cells, such as CCL2/monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (6.9; p = 0.03) and TNF/tumor necrosis factor-alpha (5.1; p = 0.005) and those associated with an anti-inflammatory environment, such as IL10/interleukin-10 (3.6; p = 0.02). Here, IL10 is linked to infection.