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Session 70 Poster Session Thymic Function and Immune Reconstitution Session Time: 4:30-6:30 pm Room 4E-F

511-M. Increased Thymic Mass and Circulating Naïve CD4+ T-Cell Counts in HIV-1-Infected Adults Treated with Growth Hormone L. Napolitano1, 2, J. Lo2, M. Gotway2, K. Mulligan2, J. D. Barbour1, D. Schmidt1, R. Halvorsen2, C. Stoddart1, M. Schambelan*2, J. M. McCune1, and 2 1Gladstone Inst. of Virology and Immunology, San Francisco, CA and 2Univ. of California, San Francisco Background: Growth hormone (GH) plays an integral role in the development and maintenance of the immune system in animals, raising the possibility that its administration may be of therapeutic benefit in human immunodeficiency. We hypothesized that GH might augment thymopoiesis in individuals infected with the human immunodeficiency virus, type 1 (HIV-1). Results: In a prospective study of 5 HIV-1-infected individuals, treatment with GH was associated with a marked increase in thymic tissue. Circulating naïve CD4+ T cells also increased significantly during GH therapy, further suggesting an enhancement of thymopoiesis. Additional studies performed in the SCID-hu Thy/Liv mouse model demonstrated that GH induces human thymic hyperplasia in a dose-dependent manner. Conclusions: These findings indicate that GH is capable of reversing human thymic atrophy and facilitating thymopoiesis. Thus, de novo T-cell production might be inducible by GH in immunodeficient adults.

©2002 9th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections