Age Can Be a Predictor of Poor Immune Reconstitution

A study in the November edition of the journal AIDS shows that age is associated with the rate and level of naive CD4-cell rebounds in patients who have suppressed viral loads through antiretroviral therapy. The researchers studied 45 adults ages 25 to 57, all of whom were taking anti-HIV drugs, and determined that for each year of age the naive CD4-cell recovery rate dropped 5% and the naive CD8 recovery rate fell 3.6%. No correlation between age and the recovery of memory T cells was seen.