Changes in B-Cell Counts and Percentages during Primary HIV Infection Associated with Disease Progression in HIV-Infected Men Who Have Sex with Men: A Preliminary Study

Figure 4

Correlation between B-cell counts/percentages at the baseline visit and HIV viral set point. Using data from the 120 PHI subjects, changes in the CD4⁺ T cells (a) and viral loads (b) over time were plotted. Loess curve fitting was applied to the data and performed with SPSS 17.0 software. By comparison with those individuals whose viral set points were below 4.5 lg copies/mL (red), the individuals whose viral set points were above or equal to 4.5 lg copies/mL (black) had persistently lower CD4⁺ T-cell counts but higher viral loads. (c) Using data from the 45 subjects, the baseline B-cell counts were correlated negatively with HIV viral set points (, ). (d) The percentages of B cells at the baseline were correlated with HIV viral set points (, ). values < 0.05 are considered statistically significant.

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