Biological Aging and Immune Senescence in Children with Perinatally Acquired HIV
Table 1
Summary of recent findings on telomeres on HIV-infected children, adolescents, and young adults.
Patients
Median age [IQR] (y.o.)
Telomere length median [IQR]
Method of telomere measure
Main findings
Authors and reference
94 pHIV
13.3 [9.9-15.8]
n.d.
Relative TL by rtPCR
Telomere attrition is similar for pHIV, HEU, and HUU. Older age and male gender are correlated with shorter TL. Detectable viremia and absence of ART are correlated with shorter TL.
pHIV have significantly shorter TL than HEU and HUU. ART-naïve pHIV have shorter TL than pHIV on ART. Percentages of senescent, activated, and exhausted CD8 cells are higher in pHIV than in HEU and HUU.
There was no evidence of accelerated biological aging by mDNA levels. Absolute telomere length was shorter in pHIV and HEU compared to HUU but did not differ between pHIV and HEU.
TL and telomere shortening rate of pHIV and npHIV is significantly lower than that of HUU. pHIV and npHIV maintain a normal thymic output, with a continuous shift of the naïve pool into memory subsets. This phenomenon may allow to control viral infection and maintain peripheral homeostasis.