[Neonatal screening of severe combined immunodeficiencies].

Severe combined immunodeficiencies (SCID) are a group of inherited diseases of the immune system characterized by profound abnormalities of T-cell development. Infants with SCID require prompt clinical intervention to prevent life-threatening infection and studies show significantly improved survival in babies diagnosed at birth based on previous family history. SCID follows the criteria for population-based newborn screening because it is asymptomatic at birth and fatal within the 1st year of life if there is no intervention, the confirmation of the disease is easy, there is a curative treatment, and it is known that early hematopoietic stem cell transplantation significantly improves survival, the quality of immune reconstitution, and quality of life.

Impact of select immunologic and virologic biomarkers on CD4 cell count decrease in patients with chronic HIV-1 subtype C infection: results from Sinikithemba Cohort, Durban, South Africa.

Background: The extent to which immunologic and clinical biomarkers influence human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection outcomes remains incompletely characterized, particularly for non-B subtypes. On the basis of data supporting in vitro HIV-1 protein-specific CD8 T lymphocyte responses as correlates of immune control in cross-sectional studies, we assessed the relationship of these responses, along with established HIV-1 biomarkers, with rates of CD4 cell count decrease in individuals infected with HIV-1 subtype C.

Methods: Bivariate and multivariate mixed-effects models were used to assess the relationship of baseline CD4 cell count, plasma viral load, human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I alleles, and HIV-1 protein-specific CD8 T cell responses with the rate of CD4 cell count decrease in a longitudinal population-based cohort of 300 therapy-naive, chronically infected adults with baseline CD4 cell counts >200 cells/mm(3) and plasma viral loads >500 copies/mL over a median of 25 months of follow-up.

Immunodominant HIV-1 Cd4+ T cell epitopes in chronic untreated clade C HIV-1 infection.

Background: A dominance of Gag-specific CD8+ T cell responses is significantly associated with a lower viral load in individuals with chronic, untreated clade C human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection. This association has not been investigated in terms of Gag-specific CD4+ T cell responses, nor have clade C HIV-1-specific CD4+ T cell epitopes, likely a vital component of an effective global HIV-1 vaccine, been identified.

Methodology/principal Findings: Intracellular cytokine staining was conducted on 373 subjects with chronic, untreated clade C infection to assess interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) responses by CD4+ T cells to pooled Gag peptides and to determine their association with viral load and CD4 count.