Early recovery of CD4 T lymphocytes in children on highly active antiretroviral therapy. Dutch study group for children with HIV infections

J.W. Cohen Stuart; W.A. Slieker; G.T. Rijkers; A.J. Noest; C.A.B. Boucher; M.H. Suur; R.J. de Boer; S.P. Geelen; H.J. Scherpbier; N.G. Hartwig; H. Hooijkaas; M.T. Roos; B. de Graeff-Meeder; R. de Groot

authors	Cohen Stuart, J.W.; Slieker, W.A.; Rijkers, G.T.; Noest, A.J.; Boucher, C.A.B.; Suur, M.H.; Boer, R.J. de; Geelen, S.P.; Scherpbier, H.J.; Hartwig, N.G.; Hooijkaas, H.; Roos, M.T.; Graeff-Meeder, B. de; Groot, R. de
source	AIDS, Volume: 12, Issue: 16 (1998), pp. 2155-2159
full text	[Full text]
publisher	Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
URL publisher	[Website publisher]
document type	Article
disciplines	Biologie
abstract	Regeneration of CD4+ T lymphocytes has been shown to be thymus-dependent in bone marrow transplant recipients and after intensive chemotherapy. The rate of CD4+ T cell regeneration is correlated positively with enlargement of the thymus, as shown on radiographs, and higher rates of CD4+ T lymphocyte regeneration were observed in children as compared with adults, consistent with thymic function diminishing with age. We hypothesized that in HIV infected patients CD4+ T cell recovery during highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) may also be thymus dependent. Therefore, repopulation of naive (CD45RA+), memory (CD45RO+) and total CD4+ T lymphocytes and total CD8+ T lymphocytes in peripheral blood was assessed in 13 HIV infected children during the initial 3 months of HAART. RESULTS: Significantly higher recovery rates of naive, memory and total CD4+ T cells were observed in children below the age of 3 years as compared with older children. Kinetics of total CD8+ T cells showed no relation to age. Moreover, recovery rates of naive CD4+ T cells in patients below 3 years of age were 10-40 fold higher as compared with previously reported naive CD4+ T cell recovery rates in adults on HAART. CONCLUSIONS: High recovery rates of naive, memory and total CD4+ T cells can be achieved in children below 3 years of age. Changes in CD8 counts did not correlate with age. These results indicate that regeneration of CD4+ T cells during HAART may be a thymus-dependent process.
keywords	CD4, CD8, pediatrics, antiretroviral therapy, immune reconstitution
ISSN	0269-9370 (paper), 1473-5571 (online)