title: Antiretroviral therapy restores age-dependent loss of resting memory B cells in young HIV-infected Zambian children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Antiretroviral therapy (ART) is associated with incomplete restoration of resting memory B (RMB) cell percentages in adults infected with HIV, but the effects on RMB cells in children are less well defined, in part because changes in RMB cell percentages are confounded by the development and maturation of the RMB cell pool. The objective of this study was to assess the effect of age at ART initiation on RMB cell percentages over time in HIV-infected Zambian children.
  
  
  METHODS
  RMB cell percentages (CD19CD21CD27) were measured by flow cytometry in 146 HIV-infected Zambian children (9-120 months old) at baseline and at 3-month intervals after ART initiation and in 34 control children at a single study visit.
  
  
  RESULTS
  RMB cell percentages among untreated HIV-infected children younger than 24 months did not differ from those of control children (P = 0.97). Among HIV-infected children older than 24 months of age, however, each 12-month increase in age at ART initiation was associated with a 1.8% decrease in RMB cell percentage. In contrast, RMB cell percentages in control children up to 48 months increased 4.4% with each 12-month increase in age. After 12 months of ART, children aged 24-60 months had a significant increase in RMB cell percentages that no longer differed from those of control children.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Initiation of ART in 2- to 5-year-old HIV-infected children resulted in reconstitution of RMB cell percentages to levels similar to control children and may help restore normal development and maintenance of B-cell immunity.
authors: *Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD; †Virology Laboratory, University Teaching Hospital, Lusaka, Zambia; ‡Center for Infectious Disease Research-Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia; §Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Alabama, AL; and ‖W. Harry Feinstone Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD (Dr Rainwater-Lovett is now with the Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD; Carolyn B. Moore is now with Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC).
authors: Kaitlin
authors: K
authors: Rainwater-Lovett
authors: Hope C
authors: HC
authors: Nkamba
authors: Mwnagelwa
authors: M
authors: Mubiana-Mbewe
authors: Carolyn B
authors: CB
authors: Moore
authors: Joseph B
authors: JB
authors: Margolick
authors: William J
authors: WJ
authors: Moss
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D044966:Anti-Retroviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018941:Antigens, CD19 / Q000032:analysis; D023241:Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active / Q000379:methods*; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007156:Immunologic Memory; D007223:Infant; D016131:Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D017464:Receptors, Complement 3d / Q000032:analysis; D018127:Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor Superfamily, Member 7 / Q000032:analysis; D015024:Zambia
chemical_list: D044966:Anti-Retroviral Agents; D018941:Antigens, CD19; D017464:Receptors, Complement 3d; D018127:Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor Superfamily, Member 7