TABLE 1.
Baseline characteristics of the study participants
| Characteristic | UHIVs CD4 <500 (n = 28) | UHIVs CD4 >500 (n = 16) | ECsa (n = 8) | HESNs (n = 32) | HCs (n = 14) | n | b |
| Age, yearsc | 37 (30–41) | 36 (32–39) | 39 (28–55) | 36 (32–42) | 33 (26–40) | 97 | ns (0.677) |
| Male/female, n male (%) | 25/2 (93) | 16/0 (100) | 5/3 (63) | 27/5 (84) | 5/9 (36) | 97 | ns (0.161) |
| MSMd/other, n MSM (%) | 23/4 (85) | 14/2 (88) | 6/2 (75) | 27/5 (84) | N/D | 83 | ns (0.956) |
| Lipid-lowering treatment, n (%) | 1 (4) | 1 (6) | 0 | 1 (3) | N/D | 83 | N/A |
| Virology/Immunology | |||||||
| Plasma VL (log10)c | 4.7 (3.9–5.4) | 4.0 (3.2–4.5) | 1.6 (1.6–1.9) | N/A | N/A | 51 | *** |
| CD4+ T-cell count (cells/ml)c | 306 (145–373) | 701 (572–874) | 549 (489–642) | N/D | N/D | 51 | *** |
| CD4+ T-cell (%) | 17 (11–26) | 36 (28–40) | 30 (27–37) | 36 (31–44) | N/D | 82 | *** |
| CD8+ T-cell count (cells/ml)c | 822 (581–1,047) | 1017 (709–1,112) | 793 (601–1,052) | N/D | N/D | 51 | ns (0.276) |
| CD8+ T-cell (%) | 58 (48–68) | 44 (40–55) | 42 (32–49) | 22 (16–29) | N/D | 82 | *** |
| Ratio CD4+/CD8+ | 0.26 (0.19–0.51) | 0.78 (0.55–1.00) | 0.76 (0.61–1.02) | 1.55 (1.15–2.37) | N/D | 83 | *** |
| Plasma lipids and lipoproteins | |||||||
| TC (mg/dl) | 167.5 ± 32.5 | 162.9 ± 25.0 | 208.8 ± 51.0 | 191.4 ± 37.2 | 175.7 ± 26.6 | 98 | 0.0031** |
| Triglycerides (mg/dl) | 149.0 ± 102.1 | 130.1 ± 89.8 | 137.9 ± 78.5 | 106.1 ± 58.3 | 84.8 ± 42.2 | 98 | 0.07 ns |
| HDL-C (mg/dl) | 38.1 ± 10.5 | 42.6 ± 8.6 | 48.6 ± 12.1 | 50.9 ± 12.1 | 60.4 ± 11.7 | 98 | <0.0001*** |
| LDL-C (mg/dl) | 103.4 ± 28.7 | 97.9 ± 21.8 | 134.2 ± 43.1 | 119.9 ± 31.0 | 98.4 ± 25.0 | 87e | 0.0138* |
| ApoAI (mg/dl) | 110.8 ± 15.6 | 111.0 ± 8.8 | 120.5 ± 21.0 | 128.3 ± 16.4 | 132.6 ± 13.7 | 98 | <0.0001*** |
| ApoB (mg/dl) | 82.6 ± 21.4 | 80.9 ± 13.9 | 103.1 ± 22.1 | 89.8 ± 20.4 | 87.6 ± 23.0 | 98 | 0.087 ns |
| ApoB/ApoAI | 0.76 ± 0.21 | 0.73 ± 0.13 | 0.86 ± 0.14 | 0.71 ± 0.16 | 0.66 ± 0.19 | 98 | 0.1114 ns |
| Plasma inflammatory markers | |||||||
| Lp(a) (log10) | 1.22 ± 0.52 | 1.10 ± 0.38 | 1.12 ± 0.40 | 1.29 ± 0.49 | 1.05 ± 0.51 | 98 | 0.536 ns |
| hsCRP | 0.45 ± 0.49 | 0.36 ± 0.80 | 0.32 ± 0.29 | 0.20 ± 0.31 | 0.14 ± 0.14 | 98 | 0.073 ns |
| Plasma functional assays | |||||||
| CE | 0.58 ± 0.13 | 0.74 ± 0.12 | 0.88 ± 0.25 | 0.78 ± 0.14 | 0.90 ± 0.13 | 98 | <0.0001*** |
| CE/HDL (×1,000) | 15.70 ± 3.10 | 17.88 ± 3.88 | 19.14 ± 8.15 | 15.98 ± 4.45 | 15.11 ± 1.57 | 98 | 0.100 ns |
| CE/ApoAI (×1000) | 5.25 ± 1.04 | 6.69 ± 1.16 | 7.42 ± 2.30 | 6.16 ± 1.37 | 6.82 ± 0.95 | 98 | <0.0001*** |
Data are shown as mean ± standard deviation unless otherwise indicated. MSM, men who had sex with men; N/D, not determined; N/A, not applicable; ns, nonsignificant.
a
One patient included in the EC group is a viremic controller (VL = 6,000 copies/ml).
b
Statistical significance and P from χ2 or ANOVA one-way test comparing all groups (*P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.0001).
c
Data are shown as median (IQR, 25th to75th percentile).
d
MSM include bisexual and homosexual.
e
LDL-C measurements of 11 individuals could not be calculated.