Figure 1.
Kinetics of changes in CD4+ T cell count (cell/µL blood, upper panel) and plasma viral load (pVL, number of copies/mL blood, lower panel) after primary HIV infection.
Each patients is represented by a different colour.
Figure 2.
Trends of CD8+ T and CD4+ T cell response to gag- and nef-derived peptides.
Boxes indicate median values with 25th and 75th percentiles, whiskers show minimum and maximum. Figure shows the total response to viral peptides, i.e., the sum of all cells positive for at least one of the markers studied (IL-2, IFN-γ, CD154 and CD107a). Patients were studied at month 1 (M1), month 2 (M2), month 3 (M3), month 4 (M4), and month 6 (M6) after PHI. The values of nonparametric analysis of variance (Skillings-Mack, and p values) are reported in figures. Stars in graphs indicate the significant differences of pairwise comparisons between the indicated months, performed by Tukey-Kramer test.
Figure 3.
Characterization of the T cell response to gag-derived peptides.
Pie charts show the qualitative composition of total gag-specific CD4+ or CD8+ T cell response; each pie slice represents the mean proportion of the total CD4+ T cell response contributed by a single functional pattern, as indicated in the bottom legend. Arcs designed outside the pies represent the fraction of total cells expressing a particular marker, irrespectively of the positive or negative expression of other markers (blue: CD154; red: CD107a; green: IFN-γ; black: IL-2).
Figure 4.
Characterization of the T cell response to nef-derived peptides.
Pie charts show the qualitative composition of total gag-specific CD4+ or CD8+ T cell response; each pie slice represents the mean proportion of the total CD4+ T cell response contributed by a single functional pattern, as indicated in the bottom legend. Arcs designed outside the pies represent the fraction of total cells expressing a particular marker, irrespectively of the positive or negative expression of other markers (blue: CD154; red: CD107a; green: IFN-γ; black: IL-2).
Figure 5.
Trends of the Treg frequency (upper panel), absolute number (middle panel) and activated Treg (lower panel), in the patients under investigation.
Tregs were considered as those cells that were CD3+,CD4+, positive to FoxP3, highly positive (i.e., bright) to CD25 and negative to CD127. Boxes indicate median values with 25th and 75th percentiles, whiskers show minimum and maximum.
Figure 6.
Percentages of activated CD4+ (upper panel) and CD8+ (lower panel) T cells.
Activated cells were considered those expressing high levels of CD38 (CD38 bright) and MHC class II (HLA-DR) molecules. Boxes indicate median values with 25th and 75th percentiles, whiskers show minimum and maximum.
Figure 7.
Correlation between the level of CD4+ T cell activation status and pVL levels, at all months analyzed.
Activated cells were identified as described in the legend to Figure 6.
Figure 8.
Association between the frequency of activated T cells (either CD4+ or CD8+) measured at M2, and plasma viral load, analyzed 1 year after PHI.
Activated cells were identified as described in the legend to Figure 6.
Figure 9.
Association between CD4+ or CD8+ T cell activation at M2 and M3 and the length of the period free of therapy.
Activated cells were identified as described in the legend to Figure 6.
Figure 10.
Kaplan-Meier survival curves related to the free-of-therapy period.
The survival analysis was performed considering the time elapsed from PHI to the occurrence of failure, defined as the start of antiretroviral therapy. Upper pane, all patients; lower panels, patients with different degree of CD8+ T cell activation.