Fig. 1

Initiation of cART with higher CD4 level preserves CD4⁺ T cells in blood and exhaustion marker PD-1 reveals a defect of the gut barrier integrity. Correlation between CD4⁺ T cells at the initiation of cART and ratio CD4⁺/CD8⁺ T cells in blood (a ₁ ) or with absolute numbers of CD4⁺ T cells in blood (a ₂ ) and rectum (a ₃ ) or CD8⁺ T cells (a ₄ , a ₅ ). Correlation between PD-1 expression on CD8⁺ T cells (MFI) in blood and Th17/Treg ratio in blood (b). Differences of PD-1 expression (MFI) in CD4⁺ and CD8 ⁺ T cells in blood and rectum (c, d). Flow cytometry analysis of this marker in CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells (e). Gating strategy: lymphoid cells were gated using the FSC/SSC parameters. Then, T cells were gated by their expression of CD3 and were separated in CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells by the CD4 expression and PD1 expression was studied in CD3⁺/CD4⁺ and CD3⁺/CD8⁺ T cells. Horizontal lines represent median values and ranges. *p < 0.05; ***p < 0.0001. Each symbol represents an individual patient