CD8⁺ T-Cell Differentiation and HIV-1 Disease Progression

<div><p>(A) Distribution of the CD8⁺ T-cell population in differentiated subsets (CD28⁺/CD27⁺ early, CD28⁻/CD27⁺ intermediate, and CD28⁻/CD27⁻ late) through the course of HIV-1 infection. Abbreviations: H, healthy (<i>n</i> = 15); A, acute HIV infection (<i>n</i> = 11); C, chronic HIV infection nonprogressor (no ART; <i>n</i> = 14); P, chronic HIV infection with signs of disease progression (no ART; <i>n</i> = 10). Statistics: * <i>p</i> < 0.0001 with the ANOVA test and <i>p</i> < 0.005 between each group.</p> <p>(B) Percentages of CD27⁻ CD8⁺ T-cells that are specific for HLA-B8 HIV (nef) or HLA-A2 CMV in HIV-1-infected individuals at different stages of infection. Statistics: ** <i>p</i> < 0.005 with the nonparametric Mann–Whitney test.</p> <p>(C) Inverse correlation between CD4⁺ T-cell counts and percentage of highly differentiated CD27⁻ cells in the whole CD8⁺ T-cell population of HIV-1-infected donors during chronic infection (untreated nonprogressors and progressors). The <i>p</i> value was obtained using the nonparametric Spearman rank correlation test.</p>