BACKGROUND Initiation of combination antiretroviral therapy (ART) results in higher total CD4 cell counts, a surrogate for immune reconstitution. Whether the baseline CD4 cell count affects reconstitution of immune cell subsets has not been well characterized. METHODS Using data from 978 patients (621 with comprehensive immunological assessments) from the AIDS [Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndr...

BACKGROUND Whereas HAART initiated at CD4 cell counts 351-450 cells/ml reduces mortality, compared with starting at lower CD4 levels, there is currently no evidence for the advantages of initiating treatment at CD4 cell counts greater than 450 cells/ml. METHODS Mortality hazard, as a function of CD4 cell count, was estimated among postpartum HIV-positive women in Zimbabwe, using HIV-negative ...

Define and identify long-term non-progressors (LTNP) and HIV controllers (HIC), and estimate time until disease progression. LTNP are HIV-1(+) patients who maintain stable CD4(+) T-cell counts, with no history of opportunistic infection or antiretroviral therapy (ART). HIC are a subset of LTNP who additionally have undetectable viraemia. These individuals may provide insights for prophylactic a...

It has been suggested that the rate of CD4 cell decline accelerates in parallel with decreasing numbers of cells; however, the statistical literature suggests the opposite. CD4 cells were counted about every 6 months in a cohort of 1264 human immunodeficiency virus-infected subjects (the Italian Seroconversion Study cohort). Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to estimate the time for CD4 cells to d...

BACKGROUND The rate and extent of CD4 cell recovery varies widely among HIV-infected patients with different baseline CD4 cell count strata. The objective of the study was to assess trends in CD4 cell counts in HIV-infected patients after initiation of antiretroviral therapy in Tigray, Northern Ethiopia. METHODS A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted by reviewing medical records ...

To assess the effect of obesity on CD4 cell counts, we estimated the association of time-updated BMI categories with CD4 changes among 1001 documented HIV seroconverters. During the pre-highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) era, a higher BMI was associated with less reduction in CD4 cell counts over time. However during the HAART era, obese versus normal weight patients had smaller incre...

It remains uncertain whether full T cell reconstitution can be established in HIV-infected children and adults with long-term sustained virological control by highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). In this study, we comprehensively analyzed various phenotypical markers of CD4 T cell recovery. In addition to measuring T cell activation and proliferation markers, CD4 T cell generation and ...

BACKGROUND Patients accessing antiretroviral treatment (ART) programmes in sub-Saharan Africa frequently have very advanced immunodeficiency. Previous data suggest that such patients may have diminished capacity for CD4 cell count recovery. METHODS Rates of CD4 cell increase were determined over 48 weeks among ART-naïve individuals (n = 596) commencing ART in a South African community-based A...

BACKGROUND Sustained suppression of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type 1 RNA load with the use of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) results in immunologic improvement, but it is not clear whether the CD4(+) cell count increases to normal levels or whether it reaches a less-than-normal plateau. We characterized the increase in the CD4(+) cell count in patients in clinical pra...

A total of 175 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive intravenous drug users (IDU) with CD4 cell counts of <200 cells/microl were matched with 175 HIV-positive IDU with CD4 cell counts of >500 cells/microl. Enzyme immunoassay (EIA) reactivity and human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 2 (HTLV-2) Western blot (WB) positivity were more frequently observed in subjects with CD4 cell counts of >5...