Alteration in CD29(high) CD4(+) lymphocyte subset is a common feature of early HIV disease and of active tuberculosis

Peripheral CD4 T-cell depletion has been observed in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-negative patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (TB). To investi gate more accurately this alteration, we studied peripheral blood CD45RA(+) and CD29(high) CD4 subsets in 79 TB patients with (HIV+TB+) or without (HI V-TB+) HIV infection, 85 HIV-infected patients without TB (HIV+TB-), and 43 healthy controls, all living in West Africa. The high proportion of CD4(+) CD29(high) T cells observed in controls was dramatically decreased in CDC-A stage HIV+TB- patients. CD45RA(+) CD4(+) T cells were depleted during the CDC-B stage. Both the percentage and the absolute count of CD29(high)CD4(+) T cells were decreased in HIV-TB+ and HIV+TB+ patients versus controls, bu t CD45RA(+)CD4(+) T cells were not decreased in TB patients without HIV-inf ection. Although distinct alterations in the CD4(+) T-celI homeostasis are involved in TB-versus HIV-infected subjects, our data suggest that the CD29 (+)CD4(+) T-cell depletion observed during the early HIV disease contribute s to the risk of active TB, by reducing the pool of T cells able to relocal ize to the sites of the M. tuberculosis multiplication.