Leukocyte counts and lymphocyte subsets in relation to pregnancy and HIV infection in Malawian women

Abstract

Problem: We investigated leukocyte and lymphocyte subsets in HIV-infected or HIV-uninfected, pregnant or non-pregnant Malawian women to explore whether HIV infection and pregnancy may act synergistically to impair cellular immunity. Method of study: We recruited 54 pregnant and 48 non-pregnant HIV-uninfected women and 24 pregnant and 20 non-pregnant HIV-infected Malawian women. We compared peripheral blood leukocyte and lymphocyte subsets between women in the four groups. Results: Parturient HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected women had more neutrophils (each P