The prevalence of anergy in human immunodeficiency virus-infected adolescents and the association of delayed-type hypersensitivity with subject characteristics.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the prevalence of anergy in HIV-infected adolescents and factors associated with its occurrence.


METHODS
Anergy was defined as less than 2mm induration to each of three intradermally applied antigens (Candida albicans, tetanus toxoid, and mumps) between 24 and 96 hours in a population of HIV-infected adolescents aged 12-18 at entry in a national multicenter study of HIV disease progression. CD4(+) T-cell counts and plasma HIV-1 RNA were measured in quality controlled laboratories. Factors associated with the probability of anergy were examined with contingency table comparisons, tree-structured classification, and logistic regression analyses.


RESULTS
Overall prevalence of anergy in this clinic-based population of 167 was 11% [7% in males and 12% in females (p = 0.57)]. The sole significant predictor of anergy was decreased CD4(+) T-cell count (p = 0.005).


CONCLUSIONS
The prevalence of anergy is low in this HIV-infected population compared to older infected cohorts. The occurrence of differential rates of anergy in particular age and sex groupings that may be related to intrinsic immunologic differences requires further study.
Smith Rogers
A
A
Pediatric, Adolescent, and Maternal AIDS Branch, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. ar44n@nih.gov
Ellenberg
J H
JH
Douglas
S D
SD
Henry-Reid
L
L
Peralta
L
L
Wilson
C M
CM
D000293:Adolescent; D000465:Algorithms; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes; D002648:Child; D017635:Clonal Anergy / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D006968:Hypersensitivity, Delayed / Q000276:immunology*; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D012882:Skin Tests; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D019562:Viral Load