[The reconstitutional profiles of peripheral blood natural killer cell, gammadelta T lymphocyte and CD(4)(+)T cell in human immunodeficiency virus infected patients during one-year antiretroviral therapy].

Objective: To investigate the different reconstitutional profiles for acquired (CD(4)(+)T cell) and innate (NK cell, gammadelta T lymphocyte) immunity after highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART).

Methods: The CD(3)(+)CD(4)(+), CD(3)(+)CD(4)(-)CD(8)(-), CD(3)(-)CD(16)/CD(56)(+), CD(4)(+)CD(45)RA(+)CD(62)L(+) and CD(4)(+)CD(45)RA(-) subsets were measured by flow cytometry. The dynamic changes of these subsets after HAART initiation were assessed in 59 patients who were followed for 12 months in regular 3-month visits.

Results: At baseline the cell counts of CD(4)(+)T cells including its naïve and memory subsets, NK cell and gammadelta T cells in HIV/AIDS patients were all significantly lower than those of healthy individuals. There was a decrease of 2.33 lg copies/ml in HIV-1 RNA from baseline noted 1 month after initiation of treatment which was sustained through 12 months. CD(4)(+)T cell count showed a bi-phase increase during treatment. The first rapid increase was mainly memory CD(4)(+)T cells and this followed by the second slow but steady increase of naïve CD(4)(+)T cells. Increases in NK cell and gammadelta T cell were noted at 3 months of HAART and this restoration were different quantitatively when compared with the one in CD(4)(+)T cells.

Conclusion: HAART could induce a different quantitative restorational patterns in peripheral CD(4)(+)T cells, NK cells and gammadelta T cells.