AIDS incidence and survival in a hospital‐based cohort of HIV‐positive patients from São Paulo, Brazil: The role of IFN‐λ4 polymorphisms

• Published in: Journal of medical virology Vol. 93; no. 6; pp. 3601 - 3606
• Main Authors: Prates, Gabriela, Malta, Fernanda M., Gonçalves, Fernanda, Monteiro, Mariana A., Fonseca, Luiz Augusto M., Veiga, Ana Paula, Magri, Marcello, Duarte, Alberto J. S., Casseb, Jorge, Assone, Tatiane
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01-06-2021
• Subjects: Acquired immune deficiency syndrome; AIDS; Asymptomatic; CD4 antigen; Gene polymorphism; Genetic diversity; Highly active antiretroviral therapy; HIV; HIV‐1; Human immunodeficiency virus; IFN‐λ4; Interferon; Lymphocytes; Lymphocytes T; Medical prognosis; Mortality; Pathogenesis; Prognosis; Public health; Risk; Single-nucleotide polymorphism; SNP; viral load; Virology; Brazil; HIV-1; viral load; SNP; IFN-λ4
• ISSN: 0146-6615; 1096-9071
• DOI: 10.1002/jmv.26054

Few studies have reported the prognosis of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)‐positive patients followed for a long time in Brazil, particularly those including pre and post‐HAART eras. The polymorphisms of interferon (IFN)‐λ4 have been postulated as possibly associated with the pathogenesis of HIV infection. The aim of this study was to describe the incidence and mortality from a cohort of HIV‐positive patients as well as whether IFN‐λ4 gene polymorphisms (SNP rs8099917 and SNP rs12979860) were associated with HIV/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) progression. We followed 402 patients for up to 30 years; 347 of them began follow‐up asymptomatic, without any AIDS‐defining opportunistic disease and/or a lymphocytes T CD4+ count of 350 cells/mm3 or lower. We determined the probability of the asymptomatic subjects to remain AIDS‐free, and the risk of death for those entering the study already with an AIDS diagnosis, as well as for subjects developing AIDS during follow‐up. We compared the prognosis of patients with two different polymorphisms for the genes encoding for IFN‐λ4, variants rs8099917 and rs12979860. The follow‐up time of the 347 asymptomatic‐at‐entry subjects was 3687 person‐years. IFN‐λ4 rs8099917 polymorphisms were not associated with AIDS progression, but IFN‐λ4 rs12979860 wild type genotype (CC) was associated with higher mortality compared to CT and TT, with an increased probability of death from AIDS (P = .01). In conclusion, genetic variations in IFN‐λ4 on rs12979860 polymorphisms in HIV‐infected patients may drive mortality risk.
Highlights
This study described the incidence and mortality from a cohort of HIV‐positive patients as well as whether IFN‐λ4 gene polymorphisms (SNP rs8099917 and SNP rs12979860) were associated with HIV/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) progression. The results showed that genetic variations in IFN‐λ4 on rs12979860 polymorphisms in HIV‐infected patients may drive mortality risk.