Persistent inflammation and endothelial activation in HIV-1 infected patients after 12 years of antiretroviral therapy

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 8; no. 6; p. e65182
• Main Authors: Rönsholt, Frederikke F, Ullum, Henrik, Katzenstein, Terese L, Gerstoft, Jan, Ostrowski, Sisse R
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 03-06-2013; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Acquired immune deficiency syndrome; Activation; Adhesion; Adult; AIDS; Anti-Retroviral Agents - therapeutic use; Antiretroviral agents; Antiretroviral drugs; Antiretroviral therapy; beta 2-Microglobulin - blood; Biomarkers - blood; Blood platelets; Cardiovascular disease; Care and treatment; Cell adhesion; Cell adhesion molecules; Cytokines; Development and progression; Drug therapy; Drug Therapy, Combination; E-Selectin - blood; Endothelium; Endothelium, Vascular - drug effects; Endothelium, Vascular - immunology; Endothelium, Vascular - virology; Female; Health aspects; Hepatitis; Highly active antiretroviral therapy; HIV; HIV infections; HIV Infections - blood; HIV Infections - drug therapy; HIV Infections - immunology; HIV Infections - virology; HIV-1 - drug effects; HIV-1 - immunology; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humans; Immunoassay; Immunoglobulins; Immunoglobulins - blood; Immunology; Infections; Infectious diseases; Inflammation; Inflammation - blood; Inflammation - drug therapy; Inflammation - immunology; Inflammation - virology; Intercellular adhesion molecule 1; Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 - blood; Interleukin 8; Interleukin-8 - blood; Laboratories; Lymphocytes; Male; Medical diagnosis; Medicine; Middle Aged; P-Selectin - blood; Patients; Physiological aspects; Platelet Count; Prognosis; Prospective Studies; Risk factors; Studies; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha - blood; Tumor necrosis factor-TNF; Tumor necrosis factor-α; Vascular cell adhesion molecule 1; Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 - blood; Denmark
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0065182

The study investigated markers of inflammation and endothelial activation in HIV infected patients after 12 years of successful combination antiretroviral treatment (cART).
Inflammation and endothelial activation were assessed by measuring levels of immunoglobulins, β2-microglobulin, interleukin (IL) 8, tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα), vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1), intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1), sE-Selectin, and sP-Selectin.
HIV infected patients had higher levels of β2-microglobulin, IL-8, TNFα, and sICAM-1 than uninfected controls, and HIV infected patients lacked correlation between platelet counts and sP-Selectin levels found in uninfected controls.
Discrete signs of systemic and vascular inflammation persist even after very long term cART.