Review of research progress on detection methods for CD4+ T lymphocytes infected with HIV

CD4+ T lymphocytes are an important part of human immune cells and the main target cells of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a chronic infectious disease that usually takes 2–8 years from infection to onset. Research has found that only a small number of CD4+ T cells in HIV infected individuals are in an HIV infected state, and the dynamic changes of HIV-infected CD4+ T lymphocytes (HICTLs) at different stages of HIV infection are still unclear. Meanwhile, HICTLs are the source of the HIV reservoir. Therefore, analyzing the percentage and dynamic changes of infected cells in infected individuals is of great significance for AIDS research. However, due to the high variability of the HIV gene and the lack of highly sensitive detection methods, the standard method for distinguishing HIV infected and uninfected CD4+ T cells has not been established so far. This article summarizes the markers and detection methods of HICTLs at present.