Cd4 And Cd8 Lymphocytes In Aids

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Understanding CD4 Cells and CD4 Cell Tests

The Basics CD4 Count and HIV CD4 Count and HIV Treatment CD4 Cell Test The Bottom Line The Basics Your immune system protects your body by fighting germs and infections.White blood cells are an important part of your immune system. HIV infects and destroys a type of white blood cell called aCD4 cell (sometimes called a T-cell). When the immune system loses too many CD4 cells, it becomes weak and isunable to fight off germs. At...

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CD4 and CD4/CD8 ratio

Dear Cal, I have been recently diagnosed HIV+ (June 02) and have some questions regarding both the CD4/CD8 ratio and CD4 which do not seem to be spoken about as much as the CD4 absolute.My first question is what exactly are CD8 cells? What happens...

Response from Cal Cohen, M.D., M.S.

Harvard Medical School

Thanks Jim - glad this helps.So - about these cell counts. We simplify the immune system to make it easier to count and report things. And one important simplification is this one - we can distinguish two major types of important cells in the... Read more »

CD4, CD8, CD4/CD8 ratio

Dear Dr. Bob,I have a cd4 count of 800(350-1900, range), is 50(32-68,range), cd8 count of 266(155-1000,range), cd8 17 (14-38,range), and finally cd4/cd8 ratio of 2.99( .9-3.5 range). I do not have hiv according to the test I have taken, elisa, pcr...

Response from Robert J. Frascino, M.D.

The Robert James Frascino AIDS Foundation

Hello,You have a negative ELISA, negative PCR-DNA, and negative PCR-RNA two years after a possible exposure. You also have completely normal CD4 counts. And you're still "going crazy?" Why??? Are you upset about being HIV-negative?... Read more »

cd4/cd8 ratio: 1.6, high cd4+cd8

I got infected on june 2003, tested pos 1 year later, my doctor here in colombia, does not why my total number of lymphocytes is so high: 5200 (45%),my cd4/cd8 ratio: 1.6, my cd4: 1869, cd8: 1152, my vl is undetectable in bdna pcr. my two questions...

Response from Mark Holodniy, M.D., F.A.C.P., C.I.C.

Stanford University, School of Medicine

Your symptoms may be related to something other than HIV infection. Your counts indicate a good initial immune system response to HIV infection. Time will tell about your progression status.... Read more »

cd4% to cd8%

I was reading that in a hiv- person cd4 cells are about 2 to 1 to cd8 cells but in someone infected with hiv it is reversed to 1 to 2is this right away or does this gradually happen over years?also I have read that the average cd4 loss per year is...

Response from Benjamin Young, M.D., Ph.D.

Rocky Mountain CARES

Thanks for your post.I think that in general, your assumptions are correct. The changes are more acute in the first year of infection, then slower over years. The main thing is that there is a lot of person-to-person variation in the rates of CD4... Read more »

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Use of cd4/cd8

Posted by Anonymous

Hi,
dropping by this bulletin-board, I see there is a lot of use and abuse of t-cell subsets among worried wells. To put things in perspective - cd4/cd8-ratios were used as a surrogate marker of HIV-infection among blood donors at a US hospital... Read more »

Good News... PCR/CD4/CD8 results!!

Posted by uglyduck, 4 Replies

At, 18 days post exposure:

PCR = Undetectable (or as one of my HIV specialist said, NEGATIVE).
CD4: 476 (kind of low, but my HIV specialist says that is normal)
CD8: 494 (OK)
CD4/CD8 %: 27% (He says is OK).

Well, I just got my resutls and saw one of... Read more »