Immune Reconstitution

在接受HAART治疗的HIV感染患者中，T细胞数量和功能的重建率各不相同。理解T细胞恢复的机制对于设计未来改善T细胞重建的策略将是重要的。胸腺是负责从骨髓来源的前体产生具有广泛免疫库的新的幼稚T细胞的器官。IL-7是对胸腺和初始T细胞具有直接作用的细胞因子。本研究探讨了胸腺在HIV感染和免疫重建中的作用，以及IL-7如何影响这种作用，旨在提高我们对HAART如何影响对HIV的免疫反应的理解，以及治疗性疫苗接种如何在有或没有额外干预的情况下提高对HIV的免疫力和更好地控制病毒复制。

In HIV-infected patients treated with HAART, there are variable rates of reconstitution of T cell numbers and function. An understanding of the mechanisms underlying the recovery of T cells will be important for the design of future strategies to improve T cell reconstitution. The thymus is the organ responsible for producing new naive T cells with a broad immune repertoire from bone marrow-derived precursors. IL-7 is a cytokine that has direct effects upon the thymus and naive T cells. This study examines the role of the thymus in HIV infection and immune reconstitution, and how IL-7 can affect that role.This study seeks to improve our understanding of how HAART affects the immune response to HIV, and how therapeutic vaccination, with or without additional interventions, will lead to improved immunity against HIV and better control of virus replication.