J M McCune, R Loftus, D K Schmidt, P Carroll, D Webster, L B Swor-Yim, I R Francis, B H Gross, R M Grant
J Clin Invest.
1998;
101(11):2301–2308
doi:10.1172/JCI2834
This article Copyright © 1998, The American Society for Clinical Investigation
Abstract
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T
he thymus in adults infected with the HIV-1 is generally thought to be inactive, both because of age-related involution and viral destruction. We have revisited the question of thymic function in adults, using chest-computed tomography (CT) to measure thymic tissue in HIV-1-seropositive (n = 99) or HIV-1-seronegative (n = 32) subjects, and correlating these results with the level of circulating CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells that are phenotypically described as naive thymic emigrants. Abundant thymic tissue was detectable in many (47/99) HIV-1-seropositive adults, aged 20-59. Independent of age, radiographic demonstration of thymic tissue was significantly associated with both a higher CD4(+) T cell count (P = 0.02) and a higher percentage and absolute number of circulating naive (CD45RA+CD62L+) CD4(+) T cells (P < 0.04). The prevalence of an abundant thymus was especially high in younger HIV-1-seropositive adults (</= 39 yr) with CD4 counts in the range 300-500 cells/microl and in older subjects (> 40 yr) regardless of CD4 count (P = 0.03). These studies suggest that the thymus is functional in some but not all adults with HIV-1 disease.
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