Huge increase in CD4 count but % same ( DAD has both CLL and HIV )

[besti32]

My dad was diagnosed with CLL (Chronic lymphocytic leukemia ) last year in may 2011.
He had chemo last year even though he didn't have a very high white blood count( typical in CLL) nor very large lymph nodes. The only problem was weight loss and doctors pushed for chemo.
Now I think it was a bad idea as the weight loss could have been because of HIV.

This year in march he was diagnosed with HIV during the treatment for bacterial infection.
He started Viraday in april 2012.His viral load was 2,83,000 at diagnosis.

                                    APRIL 2012                  JULY 2012

ABS Lymphocyte Count       1074                        4381           ( 1000-4800)
Absolute CD3                     957                          3031          (600-2500)
CD3 %                             89%                          69%           (60-85%)
Absolute CD4                     193                          751            (400-1500)
CD4 %                              18%                         17%            (30-50%)

The latest cd4 count was done when my dad was still recovering from shingles.
It didn't take long , shingles lasted for only 7-8 days.

My question is how can the CD4 count increase so much in just 3 months.?
and the percentage is still almost the same.??
Visually it seems the health of my dad is improving. He has gained almost 10 pounds since the bacterial infection in march 2012

what are CD3 cells? and what does it mean to have a high CD3 count ?
any info would be appreciated..

[eric48]

Hi,

If my recollection is correct C3 cells includes sub group CD4 and CD8 as well as some other sub groups

http://www.ebioscience.com/resources/human-cd-chart.htm

the CD4 cells are not counted individually, what they do is count the total lymphocytes and assess the CD4%. by multiplying total lymphocytes by CD4 % they calculate the count

in your data

TL = 1074  then x 0.18 leads to  193
TL = 4381  then x 0.17 leads to  745 (matching your 751)

So the CD4 increase that you see results solely from the total lymphocyte count

Above 500 CD4, it is usually considered that it is the % that is a better indicator of recovery. At least , even is recovery is not perfect, yet, he has well enough CD4 to mount a counter attack against infection that require the help of CD4s

Numbers are just a snapshot. Later down the road, it the diversity and efficiency of those cells that count.

At least, things seems to go in the right direction

Hope this helps

Eric

[besti32]

Ok I got the part where you said how the CD4 count is calculated.

but what do you mean by " So the CD4 increase that you see results solely from the total lymphocyte count " ?

Has there been any good progress or not in the past 3 months?

I am sorry I don't know much about this stuff.

Thanks for the help.