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Lymphocyte subset changes between 3 and 15 months of age in infants born to HIV‐seropositive women in South Africa
Author(s) -
Moodley D.,
Bobat R. A.,
Coovadia H. M.,
Doorasamy T.,
Munsamy S.,
Gouws E.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
tropical medicine and international health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.056
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 1365-3156
pISSN - 1360-2276
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3156.1997.tb00162.x
Subject(s) - medicine , cd8 , lymphocyte , immunology , population , cohort , lymphocyte subsets , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , cohort study , pediatrics , immune system , environmental health
Summary The evolution of T‐lymphocyte subsets during infancy in perinatally HIV‐infected African babies has not been previously described. In a hospital‐based cohort study, T‐lymphocyte subset changes were investigated in 72 South African black children born to HIV seropositive mothers. Sixteen (22.2%) children were classified as infected and 56 (77.8%) as uninfected by 18 months of age. Four (25%) of the infected infants died before the age of 9 months from HIV‐related disease. The CD4 and CD8 T‐lymphocyte subsets, expressed in absolute numbers, as percentages, percentiles or as ratios, were clear indicators of HIV infection at all ages between 3 and 15 months. The most marked changes were a decreased percentage of CD4 cells and an increase in percentage of CD8 cells in the infected group. In the 4 infected infants who died, CD8 count and CD4:CD8 ratio clearly predicted poor clinical outcome at 3 months. Taken together, both CD4:CD8 ratio and CD4 percentage are reliable markers of HIV infection in an African paediatric population; however, a raised CD8 lymphocyte count rather than a CD4 count is a more specific prognostic marker of disease progression in HIV infected children.