Abstract

Dynamics and Correlates of CD8 T-Cell Counts in Africans with Primary Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Infection

Prentice HA, Lu H, Price MA, Kamali A, Karita E, Lakhi S, Sanders EJ, Anzala O, Allen S, Goepfert PA, Hunter E, Gilmour J, Tang J
J Virol. 2016;90

Permenent descriptor
https://doi.org/10.1128/JVI.01467-16


In individuals with HIV-1 infection, depletion of CD4(+) T cells is often accompanied by a malfunction of CD8(+) T cells that are persistently activated and/or exhausted. While the dynamics and correlates of CD4 counts have been well documented, the same does not apply to CD8 counts. Here, we examined the CD8 counts in a cohort of 497 Africans with primary HIV-1 infection evaluated in monthly to quarterly follow-up visits for up to 3 years in the absence of antiretroviral therapy. Statistical models revealed that (i) CD8 counts were relatively steady in the 3- to 36-month period of infection and similar between men and women; (ii) neither geography nor heterogeneity in the HIV-1 set-point viral load could account for the roughly 10-fold range of CD8 counts in the cohort (P > 0.25 in all tests); and (iii) factors independently associated with relatively high CD8 counts included demographics (age