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HIV antibodies level as a marker of HIV persistence: the role of hepatitis C virus coinfection

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Abstract

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) antibodies have been proposed as a measure of the size of the HIV reservoir. The aim of our study is to quantify the anti-HIV antibodies level in a cohort of people living with HIV (PLWH), stratified based on the presence of continuous undetectable HIV viral load and the co-existence of hepatitis C virus infection. A sample of 229 HIV-monoinfected (n = 114) or HIV/HCV-coinfected [either with resolved HCV infection (n = 75) or active HCV coinfection (n = 40)] patients, followed up a median of 34 (IQR 20–44) months, was studied. Anti-HIV index was obtained as the 1:800 dilution of HIV antibodies. CD4+ T cell count, time with undetectable HIV viral load, annual increase of CD4+ T cell count, anti-HCV therapy, and diagnosis of cirrhosis were analyzed. Patients with a continued suppressed HIV viral load had significant lower anti-HIV index compared with those with virologic failure during the follow-up. Significant higher CD4+ T cell increase was observed in those with a lower anti-HIV index. HIV-monoinfected patients showed an anti-HIV index significantly lower than patients with HCV coinfection. Resolved HCV infection after interferon-based therapy, but not with direct acting antivirals, was associated with a lower anti-HIV index. HIV/HCV-coinfected patients showed higher HIV antibodies level when compared with HIV-monoinfected individuals. A decrease in anti-HIV index in HIV/HCV-coinfected patients was detected when a sustained virological HCV response was obtained after interferon-based therapy, in possible relation with the direct or indirect effect of interferon on PLWH CD4 T cells.

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Author notes

  1. Jorge Arca-Suarez, Manuel Corrales-Cuevas and Manuel Rodríguez-Iglesias contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Servicio de Microbiología, Hospital Universitario Puerta del Mar, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Cádiz, Instituto para la Investigación e Innovación en Ciencias Biomédicas de Cádiz (INiBICA), Cádiz, Spain

    Jorge Arca-Suarez, Teresa Trujillo-Soto, Clotilde Fernández-Gutiérrez del Álamo & Manuel Rodríguez-Iglesias

  2. Servicio de Medicina Interna, Unidad de Enfermedades Infecciosas, Hospital Universitario Puerta del Mar, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Cádiz, Instituto para la Investigación e Innovación en Ciencias Biomédicas de Cádiz (INiBICA), Cádiz, Spain

    Manuel Corrales-Cuevas, Susana Pascual-Pérez, Sara Cuesta-Sancho & José-Antonio Girón-González

Authors
  1. Jorge Arca-Suarez
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  2. Manuel Corrales-Cuevas
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  3. Susana Pascual-Pérez
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  4. Teresa Trujillo-Soto
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  5. Clotilde Fernández-Gutiérrez del Álamo
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  6. Sara Cuesta-Sancho
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  7. Manuel Rodríguez-Iglesias
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  8. José-Antonio Girón-González
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Contributions

Conception, design, and acquisition of data: Arca-Suárez J, Corrales-Cuevas M, Pascual-Pérez S, Trujillo-Soto T, Fernández-Gutiérrez-del Álamo C, Cuesta-Sancho S, Rodríguez-Iglesias M, Girón-González JA.

Drafting of manuscript: Arca-Suárez J, Corrales-Cuevas M, Pascual-Pérez S, Trujillo-Soto T, Fernández-Gutiérrez-del Álamo C, Cuesta-Sancho S, Rodríguez-Iglesias M, Girón-González JA.

Critical revision: Arca-Suárez J, Corrales-Cuevas M, Pascual-Pérez S, Trujillo-Soto T, Fernández-Gutiérrez-del Álamo C, Cuesta-Sancho S, Rodríguez-Iglesias M, Girón-González JA.

The corresponding author had full access to all study data and final responsibility for the decision to submit for publication.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to José-Antonio Girón-González.

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Conflict of interests

We declare no competing interests.

Ethical approval

This study was performed according to the Helsinki Declaration and legislation on data protection. The project was approved by the Ethical Research Committee of Puerta del Mar University Hospital (Cádiz, Spain).

Informed consent

The patients provided written informed consent. The inclusion of the patients in the study did not condition the therapy.

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Arca-Suarez, J., Corrales-Cuevas, M., Pascual-Pérez, S. et al. HIV antibodies level as a marker of HIV persistence: the role of hepatitis C virus coinfection. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 39, 1503–1512 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-020-03875-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-020-03875-y

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