title: Efficient thymopoiesis contributes to the maintenance of peripheral CD4 T cells during chronic human immunodeficiency virus type 2 infection.
abstract: Human immunodeficiency virus type 2 (HIV-2) infection leads to a lifelong asymptomatic period in the majority of patients. Even in patients with progressive disease, a slow CD4 count decline characterizes the chronic phase of HIV-2 infection, suggesting that peripheral T-cell homeostasis is controlled better following HIV-2 infection than following HIV-1 infection. Herein we showed that, in contrast to HIV-1-infected patients, HIV-2-infected patients demonstrate enhanced thymic function compared to age-matched healthy individuals. The correlation between higher thymic production and lower CD4 T-cell loss in these patients suggests that efficient thymopoiesis is implicated in the long-lasting maintenance of CD4 T-cell counts in HIV-2 disease.
authors.affiliation: Département de Virologie, Institut Pasteur, 28 rue du Dr Roux, 75015, Paris, France.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gautier
authors.forename: Stéphanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Beq
authors.forename: Catarina S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Cortesão
authors.forename: Ana E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Sousa
authors.forename: Rémi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cheynier
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D015497:HIV-1; D015498:HIV-2; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology*