Prospective study of CD8+ lymphocyte activation in relation to viral load in HIV-infected patients with > or = 400 CD4+ lymphocytes per microliter

• Published in: AIDS research and human retroviruses Vol. 15; no. 16; p. 1419
• Main Authors: Bouscarat, F, Levacher, M, Dazza, M C, Chau, F, Desforges, B, Muffat-Joly, M, Matheron, S, Girard, P M, Sinet, M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.11.1999
• Subjects: Adult; CD4 Lymphocyte Count; CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes - immunology; Flow Cytometry; HIV Infections - immunology; HIV Infections - virology; HIV-1; Humans; Lymphocyte Activation; Male; Middle Aged; Prospective Studies; T-Lymphocyte Subsets; Viral Load
• ISSN: 0889-2229
• DOI: 10.1089/088922299309928

To investigate the temporal relationship between CD8+ lymphocyte phenotypic alterations, the CD4+ T cell decline, and plasma HIV RNA levels during the natural history of HIV infection, 33 treatment-naive HIV-infected patients with > or =400 CD4+ cells/microl were studied prospectively for 3 years. During the study period, 20 patients remained untreated, and only 6 received more than 6 months of therapy. A significant relationship was found between changes in plasma HIV RNA and changes in the proportion of CD38+CD8+ cells. Conversely, the number of CD4+ T cells lost per year was strongly related to the increase in the proportion of CD28-CD8+ T cells. A strong relationship between mean yearly changes in CD4+ T cell numbers and changes in HIV RNA was also observed. CD4+ T cell changes were associated with changes in both viral load and CD8+ T cell activation. These results provide support for the use of both virologic and immunologic parameters for prognosis and management during HIV infection.