CD4 Count

This test is used to find the presence and count of CD-4 cells in the blood. CD-4 cells are a type of white blood cells called T lymphocytes or T-Cells. T-Cells are important for the body’s immune system.

What is Cluster of Differentiation?

The cluster of differentiation CD is used for the identification and investigation of cell surface molecules. CD molecules can act in many ways like receptors or ligands which are important to the cells. CD for humans is numbered up to 371 and out of these 371, some CD proteins play important role in cell signaling and others have functions like cell adhesion. Two commonly used molecules are CD-4 and CD-8 which are used as markers for T-Helper cells CD-4 and Cytotoxic T-Cells CD-8.

What are CD cells?

CD cells help the immune system by stimulating other immune cells such as B lymphocytes, macrophages, and CD-8 T lymphocytes to fight against infections. CD-8 cells promote the survival and differentiation of white blood cells. CD-4 and CD-8 cells identify, attack and destroy the bacteria, viruses, and fungi that cause infection to the body.

Why this test is performed?

This test is performed to check the presence of CD-4 cells in the blood. The doctor may ask you to undergo this test if you are suffering from conditions such as autoimmune disorder, HIV/AIDS, leukemia (blood cancer) and some other kinds of cancers etc. If any of your family members is suffering from HIV/AIDS it may increase the risk of developing HIV/AIDS for you. If symptoms like recurrent blood clots, continuous fever, low levels of thrombocytes and white blood cells, frequent illness, prolonged disease condition etc. are seen in an individual, then the doctor may recommend doing this test. If an individual is on the treatment of medications for HIV/AIDS, then the doctor may ask to perform this test to evaluate and to check the effectiveness of the treatment and CD-4 levels in the blood. Mostly, this test is done along with other CD tests to confirm the diagnosis. This test also helps to classify the lymphomas cancer in the cells that helps in immune system and inflammatory conditions.

Frequency:

If you have been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, your doctor may advise you to get this test done once in every 2-3 months to once in a year based on your clinical condition.

Precautions:

Some medicines such as tacrolimus, cyclosporine etc. may change the test results. Hence inform about your current medical condition and medications to your doctor or technician before the test.

If test results are normal normal staining, it may indicate that the immune system is still not affected by any infection and still working well.

If the test results are low low staining, then it means the immune system is affected by the HIV infection or due to some cancers and disease is progressing.

If test results are more more staining, then it may indicate that the immune system is responding to the treatment for HIV infection or to other diseases.

However, this test results cannot predict the chances for complications. So, the test is performed again after every 3-4weeks to confirm the disease or infection status.

The normal test results may vary depending on gender, age, health history, etc. There are no specific guidelines to interpret the results. Hence, consult your doctor with your test results for the further diagnosis or medical intervention.