title: The impact of highly active antiretroviral treatment on the blood profiles of patients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome.
abstract: This study retrospectively investigated the short- and long-term impact of highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART) on the blood profiles of patients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), and their relationship with disease progression. CD4(+) T-cell count  was measured by flow cytometry, plasma viral load of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) RNA was detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, and blood profile was determined by an automated analyser. CD4(+) T-cell count, total lymphocyte count (TLC) and haemoglobin  concentration improved gradually in patients with AIDS after the initiation of HAART. Long-term effective HAART significantly increased CD4(+) T-cell counts TLC and haemoglobin concentrations, and reduced viral load to undetectable levels. An increase in haemoglobin was positively  correlated with an increase in CD4(+) T-cells. These findings suggest that TLC is a valuable tool for determining the initiation of HAART, and that the haemoglobin concentration could be an additional indicator for long-term monitoring of HAART in resource-limited settings.
authors: State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Disease, the First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
authors: L L
authors: LL
authors: Tang
authors: C Z
authors: CZ
authors: Jin
authors: L J
authors: LJ
authors: Wu
authors: N H
authors: NH
authors: Brockmeyer
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Potthoff
authors: N P
authors: NP
authors: Wu
mesh_terms: D023241:Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D018450:Disease Progression; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000097:blood* / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000821:virology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D006801:Humans; D018655:Lymphocyte Count; D011379:Prognosis; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000821:virology; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D019562:Viral Load
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral