Delayed recovery of effector memory CD4+T cells by highly active antiretroviral therapy in a patient with HIV-1 infection

Effector memory T cells, which are potentially important in the protection against various pathogens, have been shown to be CCR7 negative. We report a case with HIV-1 infection in whom the change in the cell numbers of the subsets of CD4+ T cells, including CCR7 negative memory CD4+ T cells, in peripheral blood was monitored for more than one year after the initiation of highly active antiretroviral therapy. Percentage of each subsets in lymphocytes was measured by triple staining on lymphocyte fraction in flow-cytometry. The numbers of total CD4+ T cell, naive T cells, and CCR7 positive memory T cells successfully increased within half a month after the initiation of the therapy. Instead, the recovery of the cell number in CCR7 negative memory T cells delayed, and continued to increase untill 10 months after the initiation of the therapy. It suggests the possibility of delay in recovery of immune systems after the initiation of the therapy in HIV-1-infected patients, despite the prompt recovery of total CD4+ T cells. (C) 2002 Tohoku University Medical Press.