Association of depression with viral load, CD8 T lymphocytes, and natural killer cells in women with HIV infection.

Objective: Clinical and epidemiology studies have implicated depression as a risk factor in the morbidity and mortality of many human diseases. This study sought to determine if depression was associated with alterations in cellular immunity variables-specifically, natural killer (NK) cells and CD8 T lymphocytes-in women with HIV infection.

Method: Ninety-three women (63 HIV-seropositive, 30 HIV-seronegative) were studied as part of an ongoing longitudinal study conducted at two sites.