Longitudinal changes in NK and T cell counts in peripheral blood in response to SIV infection. RiesMoritz R. ReynoldsMatthew BashkuevaKsenia CrosnoKristin CapuanoSaverio PrallTrent M. WisemanRoger H. O’ConnorDavid G. RakaszEva UnoHajime D. LifsonJeffrey T. EvansDavid 2017 <p>Absolute counts for total NK cells (A), CD8<sup>+</sup> T cells (B), CD4<sup>+</sup> T cells (C), KIR3DL01<sup>+</sup> NK cells (D), KIR3DL05<sup>+</sup> NK cells (E), KIR3DL01<sup>-</sup>05<sup>-</sup> NK cells (F), KIR3DL01<sup>+</sup>05<sup>+</sup> NK cells (G), CD16<sup>+</sup> NK cells (H), CD56<sup>+</sup> NK cells (I), and CD16<sup>-</sup>CD56<sup>-</sup> NK cells (J) were monitored by staining whole blood and PBMCs as described in the methods. Individual (K) and geometric mean (L) SIV RNA loads in plasma are shown for Mamu-A1*002<sup>+</sup> (blue) and–A1*002<sup>-</sup> (red) animals. Gating strategies for determining absolute lymphocyte counts in blood and the percentages of PBMCs expressing CD16, CD56, KIR3DL01 and KIR3DL05 are shown in <a href="http://www.plospathogens.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.ppat.1006506#ppat.1006506.s001" target="_blank">S1</a> and <a href="http://www.plospathogens.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.ppat.1006506#ppat.1006506.s004" target="_blank">S4</a> Figs. Viral loads were measured using a qRT-PCR assay with a detection threshold of 30 copies/ml (dotted line) and error bars indicate 95% CI for geometric mean values. Statistics were calculated using a mixed effects model by comparing results from acute (week 1–4) and chronic (weeks 6–24) infection to pre-infection (week 0) (p<0.05 *, p<0.01**, p< 0.005*** & p<0.001****).</p>