HIV/HTLV-II coinfection and CD4 super(+) cell count controlling for plasma HIV viral load in injection drug users in Baltimore

Recent reports have noted a dissociation between markers of HIV disease progression and clinical stage among subjects coinfected with HTLV-I and HIV (1,2). In Brazil, persons coinfected with HTLV-I and HIV had higher CD4 super(+) T-lymphocyte counts and percents than did those with HIV infection alone (2). This difference remained after accounting for HIV plasma viral load and beta sub(2)-microglobulin, suggesting that CD4 super(+) cutoff values used in making clinical decisions in HIV infection may not be similar in those coinfected with HTLV-I (3). Although an earlier study suggested that HTLV-II coinfection did not influence the rate of CD4 super(+) cell decline or progression to AIDS in HIV seroconverters (4), data that include HIV plasma viral load in the rates of progression have not been reported. The purpose of this study was to examine CD4 super(+) cell counts in persons with HIV infection by HTLV-II serostatus after accounting for HIV viral load.