Mitochondria: «Achilles heel» of CD4+ T-lymphocyte regeneration in HIV infection

Abstract

This literature review focuses on the problem of impaired CD4+ T-lymphocyte regeneration in HIV-infected patients receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART). Typically, adherence to treatment leads to significant suppression of viral replication and induces an increase of CD4+ T-cell counts in infected individuals. However, in some patients (20 to 40%), despite the low viral load achieved by taking the drugs, CD4+ T-lymphocyte deficiency persists. These patients are more likely to suffer from AIDS-associated and non-AIDS diseases, age earlier, and have a shorter life expectancy. To denote this clinical paradox the term «immune non-responders» (INR) was introduced in the scientific literature. The INR phenomenon was discovered more than 25 years ago, but it is only now that mitochondria’s key role in its implementation has become increasingly apparent and the link between dysfunction of these organelles and impairment of immune cell regeneration processes has become clearer.