Do sex and race/ethnicity influence CD4 cell response in patients who achieve virologic suppression during antiretroviral therapy?

To determine whether CD4 cell count response to virus suppression during highly active antiretroviral therapy differs according to sex or race/ethnicity, we analyzed data in our observational cohort study for patients receiving their first antiretroviral regimen who experienced virus suppression by 6 months of therapy. In both univariate and multivariate analyses, women had greater CD4 cell count increases, compared with men, as did patients receiving a regimen that did not include a protease inhibitor. Race/ethnicity was not a factor.