ABSTRACT
Objective To evaluate the immune reconstitution of HIV-1 infected individuals after long-term highly antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Methods Twenty-five HIV-1 infected individuals receiving HAART, 17 without HAART and 15 healthy controls were included in the study. CD4 +T, CD8 +T,CD8/human leukocyte antigen DR (HLADR) + T, CD8/CD38 +T cells, and the expression of CD127 on CD3 +T cells from peripheral blood samples were measured by flow cytometry. IL-7 in peripheral blood was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbort assay (ELISA) in HAART group. t test was performed to compare the measurement data among the groups. Results Before HAART, the count of CD4 + T cells in HIV-1 infected group was lower than that of the healthy control (t =9. 12, P ＜0. 01 ), while the counts of CD8 + T,CD8/HLADR+T, and CD8/CD38 +T cells were higher than those of the healthy control (t = 4.48, 4.89 and 3.88, P＜0. 01 ). Ater 7 years' antiviral therapy, CD4 +T cells increased, CD8 +T cells decreased, but both of them didn' t reach to the normal levels ( t = 2.66 and 2.43, P ＜ 0.05 ). While the counts of CD8/HLADR+T cells and CD8/CD38 +T cells almost reached to the normal levels (t = 0. 86 and 1.39, P ＞0.05). Before HAART, the concentration of IL-7 in HIV-1 infected group was higher than that in healthy controls (t =5.31, P ＜0.01 ). It decreased with HAART, but was still higher than the normal level (t =2. 81, P ＜ 0. 05 ). The expression of CD127 on CD3 + CD8 + T cells in non-HAART group was significantly lower than that in healthy control ( t =- 6.01, P ＜ 0.01 ), while that in HAART group was higher ( t = 2.32,P ＜0.05), but still not reached to the normal level ( t = 4.49, P ＜ 0. 05 ). CD127 expression on ( CD45RA + ) CD3 + CD8 + T cells almost increased to the normal level ( t= 0. 28, P ＞ 0. 05 ), while that on ( CD45RO + ) CD3 + CD8 + T cells was still remarkably lower than the normal ( t = 4. 86, P ＜ 0. 05 ). Conclusion Long-term HAART can partially restore the count and function of lymphocyte subsets in HIV-1 infected individuals, and the abnormal immune activation can be inhibited.