ROLE OF HEPATITIS C VIRUS COINFECTION IN VIOLATION OF PRODUCTIVE THYMIC FUNCTION IN HIV-INFECTED PATIENTS UNDER IMMUNOLOGICALLY INEFFICIENT ANTIRETROVIRAL THERAPY

Abstract. The role of hepatitis C virus (HCV) co-infection in violation of restoring CD4+T cells in HIVinfected patients receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) was investigated. Seventy eight patients with effective virological response to ART (viral load < 50 copies/ml) who either had or had no good immunological CD4+Tcell response after two years of treatment were recruited. Twenty one relatively healthy volunteers served as controls. The numbers of main T-lymphocyte populations and their apoptosis rates were determined. Thymus productive function was assessed by the number of αTREC-positive CD4+ and CD8+T cells. It is shown that HIV/HCV co-infection is characterized by lower numbers of CD4+T-lymphocytes in patients’ blood compared with HIV-monoinfection. This is not associated with the cells’ increased death rates. We also demonstrate that HCV coinfection reduces the production of CD4+, but not CD8+T-lymphocytes, by the thymus.