Inconsistent reconstitution of cytomegalovirus-specific cell-mediated immunity in human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy

Cytomegalovirus (CMV)-immune recovery was characterized in human immunodefi ciency virus (HIV)-infected patients receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy. CMV lymphocyte proliferation (LP), responder-cell frequency (RCF) , and interferon (IFN)-gamma and interleukin (IL)-2 secretion were studied in CMV-seropositive HIV-infected patients and in CMV-seropositive HIV-uninf ected control subjects. HIV-infected patients and control subjects had simi lar proportions of IL-2 and IFN-gamma, but levels were lower in HIV-infecte d patients. LP and RCF were significantly less frequent and of lower magnit ude in HIV-infected patients. The measures of CMV cell-mediated immunity we re correlated in HIV-uninfected but not in HIV-infected subjects. To invest igate this, IL-2, IL-12, anti-CD28 plus anti-CD49d, or anti-IL-10 was added in vitro, with no effect on LP. However, CD8 cell depletion of mononuclear cells from HIV-infected patients increased LP responses to levels similar to those of uninfected control subjects; before depletion, only RCF correla ted with CD4 cell counts, but after depletion, LP also correlated with CD4 cell counts.