Table 1.
Epidemiological, clinical, and immunological characteristics of the study groups.
| HIV-negative (n = 16) | HIV+ untreated (n = 28) | HIV+ cART (n = 35) | p-Value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age, years (IQR)a | 31 (28–35) | 34 (29–39) | 48 (41–64) | <0.0001 |
| Sex (%)b | <0.0001 | |||
| Female | 11 (69) | 3 (11) | 7 (20) | |
| Risk factors (%)b | <0.0001 | |||
| Heterosex | 13 (81) | 6 (21) | 18 (51) | |
| Homosex/bisex | 3 (19) | 22 (79) | 11 (31) | |
| IDU | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 6 (18) | |
| HCV co-infection (%)b | 0.231 | |||
| Yes | 0(0) | 2 (7) | 5 (14) | |
| AIDS diagnosisb (%) (yes) | N/A | 2 (7) | 14 (40) | 0.003 |
| Time since first HIV Ab+ test, years (IQR)a | N/A | 2 (2–4) | 5 (4–7) | <0.0001 |
| CD4 T-cell count (IQR)a | ||||
| Nadir (n) | N/A | 400 (324–524) | 94 (26–217) | <0.0001 |
| Time of analysis (n) | 521 (413–592) | 372 (253–455) | 0.003 | |
| HIV-RNA Log cp/mL (IQR)a at time of analysis | N/A | 4.39 (3.74–5.12) | 1.59 (1.59–1.59) | <0.0001 |
| Low-level residual viremia HIV-RNA (cp/ml) | N/A | N/A | 20 (15–22) | N/A |
| cART duration, years (IQR)a | N/A | N/A | 5 (3–6) | N/A |
| cART regimen (%)b | ||||
| NRTI + PI | N/A | 24 (68.5) | N/A | |
| NRTI + NNRTI | N/A | 8 (23) | ||
| Others | 3 (8.5) | |||
| TLR4+ CD14+ (%) (IQR) | 98.6 (97–99) | 89.3 (47–99) | 78 (57–87) | 0.002 |
| TLR8+ CD14+ (%) (IQR) | 99.8 (99.7–100) | 99.4 (97–100) | 90.2 (84–96) | 0.001 |
| LPS, pg/ml (IQR) | 75 (75–81) | 187 (97–427) | 203 (83–258) | 0.0045 |
| sCD14, μg/ml (IQR) | 1.96 (1.39–2.10) | 3.32 (2.81–5.14) | 5.61 (3.25–7.92) | 0.0002 |
| CD45RA+ CCR7+ CD4+ (%) (IQR) | 49.9 (2.4–57.4) | 2.1 (1.1–22.7) | 2.6 (1.9–8.8) | 0.102 |
| CD45RA− CCR7+ CD4+ (%) (IQR) | 18.1 (3.6–23.2) | 3.4 (2.1–8.1) | 2.77 (1.7–11.7) | 0.035 |
| CD45RA− CCR7− CD4+ (%) (IQR) | 21.1 (12.2–54.7) | 48.6 (33.8–58.7) | 45.4 (27.1–66.3) | 0.242 |
| CD45RA+ CCR7− CD4+ (%) (IQR) | 5.8 (3.4–31.3) | 36.6 (22.4–55.9) | 32.3 (22.1–49.6) | 0.026 |
| CD45RA+ CCR7+ CD8+ (%) (IQR) | 23.4 (12.9–24.6) | 12.3 (4.5–46.1) | 6.5 (2.6–17.9) | 0.254 |
| CD45RA− CCR7+ CD8+ (%) (IQR) | 1.3 (1.1–2.2) | 1.3 (0.6–7.3) | 2.1 (0.8–5.7) | 0.376 |
| CD45RA− CCR7− CD8+ (%) (IQR) | 25.1 (18.9–36.7) | 49.1 (19.1–51.7) | 36.2 (18.7–58.3) | 0.494 |
| CD45RA+ CCR7− CD8+ (%) (IQR) | 43.1 (39.1–59.1) | 35.4 (27.6–44.3) | 42.9 (27.5–56.9) | 0.727 |
aData are median (IQR). IQR, interquartile range; statistical analyses: Mann–Whitney U Test or Kruskall–Wallis with Dunn’s Multiple Comparison test.
bData are n (%), statistical analyses: Pearson chi squared or Fisher exact test; p values are referred to the comparison between the three study groups where applicable.
cART, combination of antiretroviral therapy; IDU, intravenous drug users; NRTI, nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor; PI, protease inhibitor; NNRTI, non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor; LPS, lipopolysaccharide; TLR, toll-like receptors.
Statistically significant p values (p < 0.05) are highlighted in bold font.