title: Naive T lymphocytes and recent thymic emigrants are associated with HIV-1 disease history in french adolescents and young adults infected in the perinatal period: the ANRS-EP38-IMMIP study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Children born at the start of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic and infected during the perinatal period are now young adults living with the virus. Naive T-lymphocyte restoration is essential for the maintenance of a diverse T-cell receptor repertoire and for immunity to pathogens.
  
  
  METHODS
  The ANRS-EP38-IMMIP study included 93 patients infected with HIV type 1 (HIV-1) during the perinatal period. Naive CD4 (CD4N) and CD8 (CD8N) T lymphocytes and CD4 recent thymic emigrants (CD4RTE) were quantified in the peripheral blood by flow cytometry. Wilcoxon tests, Pearson correlation coefficients, and linear regressions were used to study their associations with HIV disease parameters.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Median CD4N, CD8N, and CD4RTE percentages were 56% (interquartile range [IQR], 44-64), 31% (IQR, 22-44), and 79% (IQR, 74-83), respectively. The three T-lymphocyte subsets were positively correlated with CD4 T-cell count. Patients aviremic at the time of the study tended to have a lower CD4N percentage (55% vs 58%; P = .10), a significantly higher CD8N percentage (39% vs 22%; P < .0001), and a significantly lower CD4RTE percentage (77% vs 81%; P = .003) than viremic patients. In aviremic patients, CD4N percentages were positively associated with cumulative viremia over the last 10 years (r = 0.335; P = .01) and were significantly higher in patients harboring X4R5 viruses than in those harboring R5 viruses (61% vs 44%; P = .001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  After at least 15 years of HIV infection, perinatally infected youths had preserved CD4N and CD4RTE levels. This persistence of high levels of thymic activity potentially compensating for the deleterious effects of current and past HIV replication is remarkable.
authors.affiliation: Faculté de Médecine, EA3620, Université Paris Descartes, Sorbonne Paris Cité
authors.forename: Stéphane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Blanche
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Scott-Algara
authors.forename: Jérôme
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Le Chenadec
authors.forename: Céline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Didier
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Montange
authors.forename: Véronique
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Avettand-Fenoel
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rouzioux
authors.forename: Adeline
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mélard
authors.forename: Jean-Paul
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Viard
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dollfus
authors.forename: Naima
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bouallag
authors.forename: Josiane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Warszawski
authors.forename: Florence
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Buseyne
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D018655:Lymphocyte Count; D016131:Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000276:immunology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: CD4 T-cell count; cumulative viremia; naive T lymphocyte; perinatal HIV infection; thymus