Pharmacological inhibition of nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase/visfatin enzymatic activity identifies a new inflammatory pathway linked to NAD.

Nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (NAMPT), also known as visfatin, is the rate-limiting enzyme in the salvage pathway of NAD biosynthesis from nicotinamide. Since its expression is upregulated during inflammation, NAMPT represents a novel clinical biomarker in acute lung injury, rheumatoid arthritis, and Crohn's disease. However, its role in disease progression remains unknown.

De novo T-cell generation in patients at different ages and stages of HIV-1 disease.

We assessed de novo T-cell generation by determining T-cell receptor-rearrangement excision circles (TRECs) based on patient age and on stage of HIV-1 infection. TRECs were measured in purified CD4 and CD8 T cells of a large cohort of HIV-1-infected subjects (n = 297) with chronic infection but no previous antiretroviral treatment and of a control group of HIV-negative subjects (n = 120). HIV-1-infected subjects were stratified on the basis of CD4 T-cell counts in 3 groups, early-stage disease (more than 500 CD4 T cells), intermediate-stage disease (200-500 CD4 T cells), and late-stage disease (fewer than 200 CD4 T cells).