IL-7 administration to humans leads to expansion of CD8+ and CD4+ cells but a relative decrease of CD4+ T-regulatory cells

SA Rosenberg, C Sportès, M Ahmadzadeh… - Journal of …, 2006 - journals.lww.com
Lymphopenia is a serious consequence of HIV infection and the administration of cancer
chemotherapeutic agents. Although growth factors can be administered to patients to
increase circulating neutrophils, there is no effective method to stimulate CD8+ lymphocyte
production in humans, in vivo. This report is the first to describe the administration of
recombinant interleukin-7 to humans and demonstrates the ability of this cytokine to mediate
selective increases in CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocytes along with a decrease in the …