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

Numerous anomalies in B-cell phenotypes and functions have been described in HIV-infected individuals. However, the actual relationship between B cells and disease progression remains unclear. In this study, we investigated B-cell counts/percentages during a 12-month infection period in HIV-infected individuals that eventually developed into typical progressors (TPs) or rapid progressors (RPs). We found, after 12 months of infection, the baseline B-cell counts/percentages correlated positively with CD4(+) T-cell counts (P = 0.0006 and P = 0.026) and negatively with HIV viral set points (P = 0.014 and P = 0.002). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that high baseline B-cell counts/percentages were associated with a slow CD4-cell decline. B-cell kinetics indicated the baseline B-cell counts/percentages could be factors distinguishing between TPs and RPs. The combination of the baseline B-cell counts and percentages was associated with rapid disease progression (a 80.7% predictive value as measured by the area under the curve). These results indicate that the baseline B-cell counts/percentages might be associated with HIV disease progression.