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Jan 20, 2014Article Details
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Main Article Content
The use of the full blood count and differential parameters to assess immune activation levels in asymptomatic, untreated HIV infection
Abstract
Objective. We hypothesised that FBC parameters would be significantly different in HIV-infected v. -uninfected individuals, and that some of these parameters would correlate with markers of immune activation (i.e. percentage CD38 expression on CD8+ T cells (%CD38onCD8)) and disease progression (i.e. CD4+ counts) in HIV infection.
Methods. This was a cross-sectional study with 83 HIV-infected adults who were antiretroviral therapy-naive and clinically well, and 51 HIV-uninfected adults. The %CD38onCD8 and CD4+ counts were determined by flow cytometry and the FBC was performed on a Siemens ADVIA 2120 system. FBC parameters investigated were total white cell count (WCC), haemoglobin (Hb) concentration, platelet count, absolute neutrophil count, absolute lymphocyte count, and percentage of large unstained cells (%LUCs).
Results. Significant differences were found between the HIV-infected and -uninfected groups for total WCC, Hb, neutrophil count, lymphocyte count and %LUCs. The mean ± standard deviation (SD) for the total WCC (5.3±1.3 v. 6.9±2.2; p≤0.001) and the %LUCs (2.5±0.9 v. 2.0±0.9; p=0.001) both showed correlations with CD4+ counts and %CD38onCD8.
Conclusion. The total WCC and %LUCs showed significant differences in HIV-infected individuals and correlated with markers of immune activation and disease progression. This suggests the potential use of these parameters as markers of immune activation in HIV infection.
