Frontiers in Microbiology (Jul 2015)

CD4:CD8 Lymphocyte Ratio as a Quantitative Measure of Immunologic Health in HIV-1 Infection: Findings from an African Cohort with Prospective Data

  • Jianming eTang,
  • Xuelin eLi,
  • Matthew A Price,
  • Eduard J Sanders,
  • Omu eAnzala,
  • Etienne eKarita,
  • Anatoli eKamali,
  • Shabir eLakhi,
  • Susan eAllen,
  • Eric eHunter,
  • Richard A Kaslow,
  • Jill eGilmour

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2015.00670
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 6

Abstract

Read online

In individuals with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection, CD4:CD8 lymphocyte ratio is often recognized as a quantitative outcome that reflects the critical role of both CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells in HIV-1 pathogenesis or disease progression. Our work aimed to first establish the dynamics and clinical relevance of CD4:CD8 ratio in a cohort of native Africans and then to examine its association with viral and host factors, including: (i) length of infection, (ii) demographics, (iii) HIV-1 viral load (VL), (iv) change in CD4+ T-lymphocyte count (CD4 slope), (v) HIV-1 subtype, and (vi) host genetics, especially human leukocyte antigen (HLA) variants. Data from 499 HIV-1 seroconverters with frequent (monthly to quarterly) follow-up revealed that CD4:CD8 ratio was stable in the first three years of infection, with a modest correlation with VL and CD4 slope. A relatively normal CD4:CD8 ratio (>1.0) in early infection was associated with a substantial delay in disease progression to severe immunodeficiency (1.0, but HLA variants (e.g., HLA-B*57 and HLA-B*81) previously associated with VL and/or CD4 trajectories in eastern and southern Africans had no obvious impact on CD4:CD8 ratio. Collectively, these findings suggest that CD4:CD8 ratio is a robust measure of immunologic health with both clinical and epidemiological implications.

Keywords