Effects of highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) on T lymphocyte activation and CD4 +CD45RA + T cell subsets in HIV/AIDS patients / 中华微生物学和免疫学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate the effects of highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) on the activation of T lymphocytes and expression of CD4 + CD45RA + T cell subsets in HIV/AIDS patients. Methods:This study prospectively analyzed 105 HIV/AIDS patients undergoing HAART and 35 HIV-1-negative cases (healthy controls). Flow cytometry was used to detect the activation of T lymphocytes and the percentages of CD4 + CD45RA + T cell subsets in whole blood samples taken from healthy controls and HIV/AIDS patients before and after therapy. Results:The activation of T lymphocytes was significantly enhanced in the 105 HIV/AIDS patients than in the healthy controls before treatment ( P<0.01). The activated T lymphocytes gradually decreased after HAART. Firstly, CD4 + CD38 + HLA-DR + , CD8 + CD38 + and CD8 + HLA-DR + T lymphocytes decreased one month after therapy ( P<0.05). Then, four indicators of T lymphocyte activation including the expression of CD8 + CD38 + HLA-DR + T lymphocytes decreased significantly six months after therapy ( P<0.01). The percentage of CD8 + CD38 + HLA-DR + T lymphocytes detected 12 months after therapy was significantly lower than that analyzed six months after therapy ( P<0.01). No significant difference was found in the expression of the other three indicators for activation ( P>0.05). Twelve months after therapy, the four indicators for T lymphocyte activation in HIV/AIDS patients were still significantly higher than those of the control group ( P<0.01). The percentages of CD4 + CD45RA + T lymphocytes in HIV/AIDS patients were significantly lower than those in healthy controls before and 12 months after treatment ( P>0.05). Conclusions:HAART could reduce immune activation after six months of treatment, but could not reverse the activation nor restore the expression of CD4 + CD45RA + T lymphocytes in HIV/AIDS patients.