Immunological markers in HIV-infected pregnant and non-pregnant women

Objective: To assess the influence of pregnancy on the course of HIV infect ion by comparing the behaviour of total lymphocyte counts and lymphocyte su bsets(CD4(+) and CD8(+) and their ratio) in a cohort of infected pregnant w omen. Setting: Tertiary referral centre for high risk obstetrics and infect ious diseases in pregnancy. Patients and methods: A prospective study was d esigned, HIV infected women being enrolled at the beginning of pregnancy an d sampled each trimester and in the puerperium. As controls, a group of non -pregnant HIV-infected women, cross-matched for age, risk factors and stage of disease were included and similarly evaluated in the same period. Resul ts: All the parameters, when longitudinally evaluated, were stable during g estation. Compared with non-pregnant subjects, patients had higher CD4(+) c ounts at the beginning and increased values of total lymphocytes count and subsets during the puerperium. Antepartum and postpartum risk factors such as drug abuse, smoking, antiretroviral therapy, length of gestation, matern al complications and HIV status of the neonate were not influential on the total lymphocytes counts and subsets. Discussion: According to this data, p regnancy per se seems to have a negligible influence over the course of HIV infection, at least as far as immune parameters are concerned. (C) 2000 Pu blished by Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.