title: Recent infection with human immunodeficiency virus and possible rapid loss of CD4 T lymphocytes.
abstract: To assess a hypothesized trend that persons recently infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) may have more rapid declines in absolute CD4 T-lymphocyte (CD4+ cell) counts than those who were HIV-infected in earlier years, sequential CD4+ cell counts in three groups who had definable dates of HIV seroconversion between 1978 and 1992 were reviewed. The CD4+ cell counts examined were from some of the longest extant studies in the United States: 100 homosexual and bisexual men engaged in ongoing observational cohort studies in San Francisco, Denver, and Chicago since 1978 (Group 1); 89 persons in South Carolina infected after 1986 (Group 2); and 155 injecting drug users participating in an observational cohort study in Baltimore since 1988 (Group 3). For all groups, individually and in the aggregate, mean CD4+ cell counts declined rapidly in the first year after HIV infection and then stabilized. However, there was no clear trend for lower (or higher) CD4+ cell counts by fixed time after HIV seroconversion among those seroconverting in recent compared with earlier calendar years. These data do not support a hypothesized trend for more rapid loss of CD4 T lymphocytes--and, by implication, more pathogenic strains of HIV-1--among persons acquiring HIV infection in recent years.
authors.affiliation: Division of HIV/AIDS, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.
authors.forename: S D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Holmberg
authors.forename: L J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Conley
authors.forename: S P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Luby
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cohn
authors.forename: L C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Vlahov
mesh_terms: D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D016923:Cell Death; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D006679:HIV Seropositivity; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008212:Lymphocyte Depletion; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States