In a cross-sectional comparison of 654 people with HIV on long-term antiretroviral therapy and 637 age- and sex-matched population controls, those with HIV showed less age-related fatty replacement of the thymus on chest CT (adjusted OR 1.75). Greater thymic soft tissue corresponded to higher thymic output, more naïve T cells, fewer senescent T cells, and lower IL-6 and hs-CRP. Thymic preservation appears to track directly with the inflammatory burden that drives age-associated disease.
Key Points
- Treated HIV cohort showed less thymic fatty involution than matched controls
- Higher thymus grade correlated with greater sjTREC output, more naïve T cells
- Preserved thymic tissue tracked with lower IL-6 and hs-CRP
Longevity Analysis
Thymic involution is one of the few structural markers of immune aging visible on routine imaging, and its association here with senescent T-cell fraction and circulating inflammatory markers makes it a usable readout rather than an abstract biomarker. The capacity to generate new naïve T cells shapes how the body defends itself and how much low-grade inflammation it carries into later decades — a determinant of cardiovascular, metabolic, and neurodegenerative risk. Chest CT already performed for other indications carries information about the trajectory of immune regeneration, which reframes an incidental finding as an interpretable signal.
Original published by Wiley Aging Cell, by Manon C. Vanbellinghen, Anders Boyd, Andreas Ohrt Johansen, Moises Alberto Suarez‐Zdunek, Andreas Dehlbæk Knudsen, Thomas Skårup Kristensen, Jørgen Tobias Kühl, Per Ejlstrup Sigvardsen, Michael Huy Cuong Pham, Andreas Fuchs Larsen, Klaus Fuglsang Kofoed, Børge Grønne Nordestgaard, Shoaib Afzal, Neeltje Kootstra, Susanne Dam Nielsen, Peter Reiss .