Dendritic cells have critical roles for generating and fine-tuning adaptive immune responses and for regulating immune activity through cytokine secretion. In this study, we analyzed functional properties of dendritic cells in primary human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection. We found substantial disarray of the functional properties of myeloid and plasmacytoid dendritic cells in acute HIV-1 infection, which included defective antigen-presenting and cytokine secretion properties and was associated with a distinct surface expression profile of immunomodulatory dendritic cell receptors from the leukocyte immunoglobulin-like receptor family. These data indicate that key functional properties of dendritic cells are compromised during primary HIV-1 infection.