Significantly skewed memory CD8⁺ T cell subsets in HIV-1 infected infants during the first year of life

HIV-1 infection causes a severe T cell compromise; however, little is known about changes in naive, memory, effector and senescent T cell subsets during the first year of life. T cell subsets were studied over the first year of life in blood from 3 infant cohorts: untreated HIV-infected, HIV-exposed but uninfected, and HIV-unexposed. In HIV-infected infants, the frequency of CCR7+CD45RA+ naive CD8+ T cells was significantly decreased, while the frequency of CCR7-CD45RA- effector memory CD8+ T cells was increased, compared with the control cohorts. A larger population of CD8+ T cells in HIV-infected infants displayed a phenotype consistent with senescence. Differences in CD4+ T cell subset frequencies were less pronounced, and no significant differences were observed between exposed and unexposed HIV-uninfected infants. We concluded that the proportion of naive, memory, effector and senescent CD8+ T cells during the first year of life is significantly altered by HIV-1 infection. © 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.