The Impact of B-Cell Perturbations on Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine Response in HIV-Infected Adults

Untreated HIV infection results in severe perturbations of the B-cell population and hyporesponsiveness to vaccination. We studied associations between circulating B-cell subsets and antibody response to pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in treated and untreated HIV patients. Ninety-five HIV-infected adults were grouped according to antiretroviral therapy (ART) and CD4+ cell count as follows: 20 ART-naïve (no prior ART), 62 ART-responders (received ART, and CD4 count >500 cells/µl), and 13 impaired responders (received ART for more than 3 years, and CD4 count