We explored the associations of the CD4/CD8 ratio with markers of immunoactivation, immunosenescence and T-cell subsets, in 37 vertically HIV-infected children and adolescents. CD4/CD8 ratio inversion was associated with higher frequencies of activated, senescent and activated/exhausted CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells, and a skewed T-cell phenotype from naive toward effector memory which persisted after the multivariate analysis. Thus, the CD4/CD8 ratio may identify patients with higher immunoactivation despite ART.

Background

HAART is associated with a marked decline in the progression to AIDS, improved survival in HIV-1-infected children, reduced incidence of infections and hospitalizations and decreased incidence of some organ-specific complications of HIV.

No abstract