No abstract

Objectives To investigate the impact of HAART-induced HIV suppression on levels of 24 serological biomarkers of inflammation and immune activation. Design Prospective cohort study. Methods Biomarkers were measured with multiplex assays in centralized laboratories using stored serum samples contributed by 1,697 men during 8,903 person-visits in the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS) from 1984–2009. Using generalized gamma models, we compared biomarker values across three groups, adjusting for possible confounders: HIV-uninfected (NEG); HIV+, HAART-naïve (NAI); and HAART-exposed with HIV RNA suppressed to <50 copies/mL plasma (SUP). We also estimated changes in biomarker levels associated with duration of HIV suppression, using splined generalized gamma regression with a knot at one year. Results Most biomarkers were relatively normalized in the SUP group relative to the NAI group; however, 12 biomarkers in the SUP group were distinct (p<0.002) from NEG values: CXCL10, CRP, sCD14, sTNFR2, TNF-α, sCD27, sGP130, IL-8, CCL13, BAFF, GM-CSF, and IL-12p70. Thirteen biomarkers exhibited significant changes in the first year after viral suppression, but none changed significantly after that time. Conclusions Biomarkers of inflammation and immune activation moved toward HIV-negative levels within the first year after HAART-induced HIV suppression. Although several markers of T cell activation returned to levels present in HIV-negative men, residual immune activation, particularly monocyte/macrophage activation, was present. This residual immune activation may represent a therapeutic target to improve the prognosis of HIV-infected individuals receiving HAART.

Parametric and semiparametric competing risks methods were used to estimate proportions, timing, and predictors of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)-related and non-AIDS-related mortality among individuals both positive and negative for the human immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV) in the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS) and Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS) from 1984 to 2008 and 1996 to 2008, respectively. Among HIV-positive MACS participants, the proportion of deaths unrelated to AIDS increased from 6% before the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) (before 1996) to 53% in the HAART era (P < 0.01); the median age of persons who died from non-AIDS-related causes after age 35 years increased from 49.0 to 66.0 years (P < 0.01). In both cohorts during the HAART era, median ages at time of non-AIDS-related death were younger for HIV-positive individuals than for comparable HIV-negative individuals (8.7 years younger in MACS (P < 0.01) and 7.6 years younger in WIHS (P < 0.01)). In a multivariate proportional cause-specific hazards model, unemployment (for non-AIDS death, hazard ratio (HR) = 1.8; for AIDS death, HR = 2.3), depression (for non-AIDS death, HR = 1.4; for AIDS death, HR = 1.4), and hepatitis B or C infection (for non-AIDS death, HR = 1.8, for AIDS death; HR = 1.4) were significantly (P < 0.05) associated with higher hazards of both non-AIDS and AIDS mortality among HIV-positive individuals in the HAART era, independent of study cohort. The results illuminate the changing face of mortality among the growing population infected with HIV.

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Higher concentrations of inflammatory biomarkers were observed among HIV RNA-suppressed men who reported <100% cART adherence than among more adherent men. Residual HIV replication (ie, below the limit of detection), more likely among men with suboptimal adherence, is a plausible mechanism. Whether improving cART adherence could affect residual inflammation and associated morbidity and mortality rates should be investigated.