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Homeostatic role of IL‐7 in HIV‐1 infected children on HAART: Association with immunological and virological parameters
Author(s) -
Resino S,
Galán I,
Correa R,
Pajuelo Lucia,
Bellón J MÁ,
MuñozFernández Ma Á
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
acta pædiatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/j.1651-2227.2005.tb01886.x
Subject(s) - viral load , immunology , medicine , virology , viral disease , t cell , peripheral blood mononuclear cell , phenotype , immunopathology , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , biology , immune system , in vitro , gene , genetics
Aim: To investigate the role of IL‐7 in HIV‐infected children on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) and its association with laboratory parameters related to disease progression. Patients and methods: A cross‐sectional study in 31 vertically HIV‐infected children (median age 8.4 y) treated with HAART, and a longitudinal study in four of those same children was carried out. In both studies, viral load, CD4+ T‐cell counts, thymic production of T cells by TCR rearrangement excision circles (TRECs), IL‐7 plasma levels and viral phenotype were determined. Results: IL‐7 levels were higher in HIV‐infected children than in age‐matched, uninfected controls. In addition, HIV children with CD4+ T cells between 200 and 500 T cells/mm 3 had higher IL‐7 levels and lower TREC values than HIV‐infected children with CD4+ T cells >500 T cells/mm 3 . IL‐7 levels were higher in children with syncytium‐inducing (SI) phenotype than in those with non‐syncytium‐inducing (NSI) variants. During the follow‐up of four HIV children, the decrease in viral load after HAART was always associated with a recovery of CD4+ T cells and TRECs, which was followed by a decrease in IL‐7 returning to the levels present prior to the drop in CD4+ T cells. The four HIV‐infected children had SI/X4 isolates in PBMC before HAART, and the viral phenotype switched to NSI/R5 after HAART. Conclusion: Our data suggest that IL‐7 plays a key role in the maintenance of T‐cell homeostasis in HIV‐infected children on HAART, both through peripheral expansion and through a thymus‐dependent mechanism.