CD4+ monocyte counts in persons with HIV-1 infection: an early increase is followed by a progressive decline.
 In this study, we asked whether there is a difference in the number of CD4+ and CD4- peripheral blood monocytes as CD4+ T cells decrease during HIV-mediated immunodeficiency.
 Monocytes and T cells from 90 HIV-positive and 43 HIV-negative persons were analyzed by flow cytometry.
 The 90 HIV-positive patients represented the entire spectrum of CD4+ T-cell counts.
 We report that as CD4+ T cells decrease, the number of CD4+ monocytes decrease in parallel.
 Moreover, significantly higher CD4+ monocyte counts were observed in persons with early stage HIV disease, i.e., greater than 800 CD4+ T cells/mm3, than in HIV-negative persons with greater than 800 CD4+ T cells/mm3.
 Potential implications of these findings are discussed.
