Incomplete Recovery of CD4 Cell Count, CD4 Percentage, and CD4/CD8 Ratio in Patients With Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection and Suppressed Viremia During Long-term Antiretroviral Therapy

Authors:
Publisher website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The extent and duration of long-term recovery of CD4 count, CD4 percentage (CD4%), and CD4/CD8 ratio after initiation of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) in patients with a suppressed viral load (VL) are largely unknown. Patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 who started cART between January 2004 and January 2012 and showed persistent viral suppression (VL, 10 years. Change point analysis showed that CD4 count, CD4%, and CD4/CD8 ratio continued to increase until 78.6, 62.2, and 64.3 months, respectively, with adjusted means of 590/µL (95% confidence interval, 29.5%, and 0.89, respectively, at the change point. Although CD4 counts ≥500/μL were achieved in 73.8% of the study patients, they were not achieved in 48.2% of those with a baseline CD4 count <100/μL. Neither the CD4% nor the CD4/CD8 ratio were normalized in a majority of patients. The results showed lack of normalization of CD4 count, CD4%, and CD4/CD8 ratio to the levels seen in healthy individuals even after long-term successful cART in patients with a suppressed VL.
Funding Information
  • National Center for Global Health and Medicine (25–106, 27–6001)

This publication has 26 references indexed in Scilit: