Progressive loss of CD4+ T-lymphocytes with attendant immunosuppression and the occurrence of opportunistic infections characterize HIV infection. The time course for progression to an AIDS diagnosis is variable, ranging from several years to an indefinite period in a minority of patients. Whether this is a direct cytopathic effect of HIV infection or a consequence of micro-enviromental epiphenomenon is uncertain. In addition, the potential variations in viral strain pathotoxicity and host cellular immunity are incompletely understood as are their relationship to the time course of disease in the individual patient. Up until recently, direct in vivo measurement of T-cell turnover in humans was not possible. This pilot study is being undertaken to apply the in vivo T-cell proliferation assay and T-cell receptor rearrangement excisional circles (TRECs) analysis to the peripheral blood and lymph node tissue in HIV-1 infected subjects. The study is designed to address issues related to T-cells subsets production and half-life in early and late stage infection. Peripheral blood samples from normal controls will be obtained for comparisons.
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