The changes and significance of the soluble B cell-activating factor in the peripheral blood of patients with chronic human immunodeficiency virus infection

Objective To elaborate the changes of the soluble B cell-activating factor of the tumor necrosis factor family (BAFF) in the peripheral blood of chronic human immunodeficiency virus ( HIV)-infected patients, and to study the correlation between the soluble BAFF in HIV-infected patients and the progressions of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Methods Fifty untreated HIV outpatients and 30 healthy controls were recruited. According to the counts of CD4 + T lymphocytes, HIV-in-fected patients were divided into three groups,< 200 cells/μL group,(200 - 350) cells/μL group and > 350 cells/μL group. B cell counts and the BAFF levels were compared among the three groups and the healthy con-trols. The congelation analysis was conducted for the lev-els of BAFF, the counts of CD4 + T lymphocytes and B cells, and viral load in HIV-infected patients.