Percentages of HLA-DR+/CD38+ cells were significantly lower in CD4+ and CD8+ T cells of the groups treated with ART plus p38 MAPK inhibitor compared to those treated with ART alone, whether treatment started at week 1 (p = 0.03, p = 0.009, for CD4 and CD8, respectively) or 6 post-infection (p = 0.002, p = 0.003, for CD4 and CD8, respectively), when the areas under the curve of the plotted parameters were compared in pair groups for the entire duration of the treatment (week 8 to week 60) (Fig 4A and 4B). Here, CD38 is linked to infection.