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Updated: Dec 9, 2025
Preparation and Use of HIV-1 Infected Primary CD4+ T-Cells as Target Cells in Natural Killer Cell Cytotoxic Assays
Published on: March 14, 2011
Natural killer cell counts in primary HIV infection predicts disease progression and immune restoration after
Yue Wang1, Yufei Zhang1, Tian Tang1
1NHC Key Laboratory of AIDS Immunology (China Medical University), Department of Laboratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, 110001, China; National Clinical Research Center for Laboratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, 110001, China; Key Laboratory of AIDS Immunology of Liaoning Province, The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, 110001, China; Key Laboratory of AIDS Immunology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Shenyang, 110001, China.
Abstract:
The relationship between NK cell counts during primary infection and disease progression or immune restoration after antiretroviral treatment (ART) was explored. We followed 462 individuals with HIV infection and measured their NK, CD4+ T, CD8+ T cell counts and viral loads. Our data showed that individuals with high NK cell counts had much lower viral loads and higher CD4+ T cell counts. NK cell counts during primary infection were negatively correlated with viral set-point and viral loads at one-year-infection point, and positively correlated with CD4+ T cell counts at one-year-infection and one-year-ART point. Moreover, the NK cell counts during primary infection can predict HIV disease progression and immune restoration after ART. In conclusion, NK cell counts during primary infection represents a potential predictive biomarker to predict HIV disease prognosis in the clinic.
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