CD4 and HIV-1 infection: Combined antiretroviral therapy (ART) efficiently suppresses viral replication and promotes an increase in CD4+ T cells, thereby reducing the mortality of AIDS patients, however it fails to efficiently resolve the immunological issues.1 As a result, AIDS patients undergoing ART still suffer from non-AIDS-related events associated with systemic immune-mediated inflammation,2 and are often with low CD4+ T-cell count even after 2 years of efficient ART.3 Furthermore, chronic HIV-1 infection can severely destroy the immune system, leading to extremely low CD4+ T-cell counts <50 cells/μl.