title: Lymphocyte subset changes between 3 and 15 months of age in infants born to HIV-seropositive women in South Africa.
abstract: The evolution of T-lymphocyte subsets during infancy in perinatally HIV-infected African babies has not been previously described. In a hospital-based cohort study, T-lymphocyte subset changes were investigated in 72 South African black children born to HIV seropositive mothers. Sixteen (22.2%; children were classified as infected and 56 (77.8%) as uninfected by 18 months of age. Four (25%) of the infected infants died before the age of 9 months from HIV-related disease. The CD4 and CD8 T-lymphocyte subsets, expressed in absolute numbers, as percentages, percentiles or as ratios, were clear indicators of HIV infection at all ages between 3 and 15 months. The most marked changes were a decreased percentage of CD4 cells and an increase in percentage of CD8 cells in the infected group. In the 4 infected infants who died, CD8 count and CD4:CD8 ratio clearly predicted poor clinical outcome at 3 months. Taken together, both CD4:CD8 ratio and CD4 percentage are reliable markers of HIV infection in an African paediatric population; however, a raised CD8 lymphocyte count rather than a CD4 count is a more specific prognostic marker of disease progression in HIV infected children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, University of Natal, Durban, South Africa.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Moodley
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Bobat
authors.forename: H M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Coovadia
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Doorasamy
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Munsamy
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gouws
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D015415:Biomarkers; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D016516:CD4-CD8 Ratio; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology* / Q000635:transmission; D006679:HIV Seropositivity; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D011379:Prognosis; D013019:South Africa; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers