Gautier, D.Beq, S.Cortesão, C. S.Sousa, A. E.Cheynier, R.2015-09-222015-09-222007Journal of Virology, Nov. 2007, Vol. 81, No. 22, p. 12685–126880022-538Xhttp://dx.doi.org/10.1128/JVI.01131-07http://hdl.handle.net/10451/20110© 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.Human immunodeficiency virus type 2 (HIV-2) infection leads to a lifelong asymptomatic period in the majority of patients. Even in patients with progressive disease, a slow CD4 count decline characterizes the chronic phase of HIV-2 infection, suggesting that peripheral T-cell homeostasis is controlled better following HIV-2 infection than following HIV-1 infection. Herein we showed that, in contrast to HIV-1-infected patients, HIV-2-infected patients demonstrate enhanced thymic function compared to age-matched healthy individuals. The correlation between higher thymic production and lower CD4 T-cell loss in these patients suggests that efficient thymopoiesis is implicated in the long-lasting maintenance of CD4 T-cell counts in HIV-2 disease.engjournal article