Immune Activation and Incomplete Immune Reconstitution in Chronic Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infected Patients

With the development of combined antiretroviral therapy(cART), the quality of life and life expectancy of the human immunodeficiency virus(HIV) infected adults have been significantly elevated. However, there still remains a small amount of HIV infected adults who could not regain a satisfactory amount of CD4⁺ T cells(< 500 cells/μl) even with long-term cART treatment and complete viral suppression. These infected individuals with incomplete immune reconstitution are more likely to acquire an opportunistic infection and have a higher mortality rate than infected individuals with complete immune reconstitution. One of the most important mechanisms behind incomplete immune reconstitution is the existence of abnormal immune activation. Among the studies of interventions on immune activation in HIV infected adults, an in vitro experiment and a clinical trial have indicated that Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F(TwHF) could suppress the abnormal immune activation, and may improve the immune reconstitution state in patients with incomplete immune reconstitution.