title: Changes in thymus volume in adult HIV-infected patients under HAART: correlation with the T-cell repopulation.
abstract: An important thymus role has been suggested in T-cell repopulation after HAART in adult HIV-1 infected patients. Thymus volume increase after treatment has been described in HIV-1 infected children but not in adult patients. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of HAART on the thymic volume of adult HIV-1 infected patients and its relation with the T-cell repopulation. Twenty-one adult patients following 24 weeks under HAART were included in the study. All patients underwent a thoracic computed tomography (CT) evaluation for the measurement of thymic volumes at weeks 0, 12 and 24. Baseline thymus volume showed a significant correlation with the patient's age. Thymic volume significantly increased after 24 weeks of HAART. Besides, a significant correlation between changes in the thymus volume and changes in both total and naïve CD4+ cell counts was found. Only patients with increases > or =100 CD4+ cell counts after treatment significantly increased the thymic volume. These data show the first evidence of an early change in thymic volume of adult HIV-1 infected patients under HAART. This increase was related to the rise of both total and naïve CD4+ cell counts suggesting a functional role of thymic volume increase.
authors.affiliation: Viral Hepatitis and AIDS Study Group, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Seville, Seville, Spain.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rubio
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Martínez-Moya
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Leal
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Franco
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ruiz-Mateos
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Merchante
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Quijano
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lissen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D023241:Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology*; D015497:HIV-1; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009929:Organ Size; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology*; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D019562:Viral Load