Recovery of T-cell subsets after antiretroviral therapy in HIV-infected children

Background Variation of percentageCD4+ T cells may accurately reflects the kinetics of a comprehensive immune recovery independently of the antiretroviral (ART) regimen. To test this we have investigated the relationship among peripheral blood T-cell subsets with the variation of percentageCD4+ T cells during follow up in 49 HIV-infected children. Methods Children were divided into two groups according to the sign of slope percentageCD4+ T cell during follow up: Ps-group (positive slope) and Ns-group (negative percentageCD4 slope) indicative of immunological recovery or not, respectively. CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell subset percentages were examined by three-colour flow cytometry. Results We found higher memory CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell percentages in the Ns-group than in the Ps-group, and inversely, higher naive CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in the Ps-group than in the Ns-group. CD4+ and CD8+ subsets in the Ps-group expressed higher levels of CD38+ and lower levels of HLA-DR+ compared with the Ns-group. We found a very strong positive correlation among the slope of percentageCD4+, CD4+ CD38+, whereas a negative correlation among the slope of percentageCD4+, the CD8+ CD28+ CD57+ and CD8+ CD57+ T-cell subsets. Conclusion Recovery of the CD4+ T-cell percentage induced by ART reflects a reduction in the chronic immune activation and a measurable reconstitution of the immune system and depends on naive CD4+ T cells.