CD4+ T Cell Decline is Predicted by Differential Expression of Genes in HIV seropositive patients

Patterns of expressed genes examined in cryopreserved peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of seropositive persons electing to stop antiretroviral therapy in the AIDS Clinical Trials Group Study A 5170, were scrutinized to identify markers capable of predicting the likelihood of CD4+ T cell depletion after cessation of ART. Two cohorts were matched for clinical characteristics in a study of the effects of therapy interruption (TI) in ART-treated patients with immunological preservation. Disease progression was determined by CD4+ T cell count decline 24 weeks after TI.Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) identified a set of genes in the Ras signaling pathway, associated with the downregulation of apoptosis, as significantly upregulated in the good outcome group at cessation of ART. Keywords: Disease state analysis There are 96 samples in this study. 24 patients with good outcome results and 24 matched patients with poor outcome results. Each patient has two time points: week0 and week 24