Characterization of T lymphocyte responses during primary infection with human immunodeficiency virus.

The present study was undertaken to determine T cell response to primary human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. No significant difference in T cell subsets was found between subjects who later seroconverted and a group of controls. Six subjects had multiple enumerations of T cell subsets done at the time of seroconversion. Initially, total lymphocyte and T cell subset counts were reduced. An inversion of the CD4+:CD8+ ratio due to a rise in the level of CD8+ cells was found later, followed by an appreciable increase in the number of CD8+ cells and further inversion of the CD4+:CD8+ ratio. Finally, the CD8+ cell count returned toward normal but remained higher than the CD4+ cell count; the inverted ratio was maintained. Lymphocyte hyporesponsiveness to mitogens and antigens was found during the seroconversion illness in one subject. In three of five subjects for whom data were available, an increase in the absolute number of CD8+ cells followed a decrease in the serum HIV antigen level.