title: Current laboratory assays and in vitro intracellular Th1 and Th2 cytokine synthesis in monitoring antiretroviral therapy of pediatric HIV infection.
abstract: In 42 HIV-infected children, 8-10 years old, belonging to the category A state of infection, combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) was applied, consisting of AZT, ddC and Saquinavir. At 6 and 12 weeks following the start of cART, the efficacy of treatment was assessed, both by means of current parameters (blood CD4+ cell levels, virus load) and by measuring the intracellular synthesis of some Th1 (interleukin (IL)-2, interferon-gamma) and Th2 (IL-4, IL-10) cytokines, in CD4+ lymphocytes, respectively. Before cART, low values of blood CD4+ cell counts and a mean of about 8000 virus RNA copies ml(-1) of serum were detected, and in addition decreased levels of production of both intracellular Th1 cytokines, associated with increased levels of one of the Th2 cytokines (IL-10), but not of the other (IL-4), were noticed. After cART, earlier improvement of intracellular IL-2, interferon-gamma and IL-10 synthesis in CD4+ cells occurred compared to CD4+ counts and virus load. The usefulness of scoring the rates at which CD4+ lymphocytes are able to synthesize intracellular Th1 or Th2 cytokines, as an additional immune parameter during combined antiretroviral therapy monitoring in pediatric AIDS, is discussed.
authors.affiliation: University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Petru Rares Street 4, 1100, Craiova, Romania. voicul@medinf.comp-craiova.ro
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Voiculescu
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Avrămescu
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Radu
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Balasoiu
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Turculeanu
mesh_terms: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D002648:Child; D016207:Cytokines / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D018894:Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors; D019258:Saquinavir / Q000627:therapeutic use; D018417:Th1 Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D018418:Th2 Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D019562:Viral Load; D016047:Zalcitabine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015215:Zidovudine / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents; D016207:Cytokines; D018894:Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors; D015215:Zidovudine; D016047:Zalcitabine; D019258:Saquinavir