Table 1.
Changes in HIV viral load and CD4 cell count associated with syphilis infection and treatment in HIV-infected men.
| ‘Before-to-during’ syphilis infectiona | ‘During-to-after’ syphilis infectionb | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category | No. | Direction of change +/0/−c | Mean | Median | P | No. | Direction of change +/0/− | Mean | Median | P |
| Change in HIV-RNA levelsd (log10 copies/ml) | ||||||||||
| Overall | 36 | 15/10/11 | 0.21 | 0.00 | 0.02 | 35 | 13/7/15 | −0.10 | 0.00 | 0.52 |
| Stage of syphilis | ||||||||||
| Primary | 14 | 4/4/6 | 0.02 | 0.00 | 1.00 | 10 | 3/1/6 | −0.05 | −0.10 | 0.82 |
| Secondary | 22 | 11/6/5 | 0.33 | 0.25 | 0.01 | 25 | 10/6/9 | −0.10 | 0.00 | 0.65 |
| Antiretroviral use | ||||||||||
| On HAART | 21 | 7/8/6 | 0.19 | 0.00 | 0.19 | 24 | 10/6/8 | −0.05 | 0.00 | 0.97 |
| Not on HAARTe | 15 | 8/2/5 | 0.25 | 0.51 | 0.09 | 11 | 3/1/7 | −0.18 | −0.06 | 0.23 |
| Viral load level | ||||||||||
| Detectable | 26 | 13/2/11 | 0.20 | 0.16 | 0.07 | 28 | 12/1/15 | −0.11 | −0.06 | 0.48 |
| Undetectable | 10 | 2/8/0 | 0.25 | 0.00 | 0.50 | 7 | 1/6/0 | −0.08 | 0.00 | 1.00 |
| CD4 cell count | ||||||||||
| ≥ 350 cells/mm3 | 14 | 6/7/1 | 0.24 | 0.00 | 0.16 | 19 | 9/3/7 | −0.09 | 0.00 | 0.98 |
| < 350 cells/mm3 | 21 | 8/3/10 | 0.16 | 0.00 | 0.32 | 16 | 4/4/8 | −0.08 | −0.03 | 0.46 |
| Change in CD4 cell count (cells/mm3) | ||||||||||
| Overall | 31 | 12/0/19 | −62 | −16 | 0.04 | 31 | 20/0/11 | 33 | 30 | 0.23 |
| Stage of syphilis | ||||||||||
| Primary | 12 | 4/0/8 | −36 | −12 | 0.21 | 11 | 7/0/4 | 24 | 34 | 0.62 |
| Secondary | 19 | 8/0/11 | −78 | −144 | 0.11 | 20 | 13/0/7 | 38 | 30 | 0.12 |
| Antiretroviral use | ||||||||||
| On HAART | 19 | 9/0/10 | −32 | −16 | 0.31 | 22 | 15/0/7 | 54 | 32 | 0.05 |
| Not on HAART | 12 | 3/0/9 | −110 | −45 | 0.03 | 9 | 5/0/2 | −18 | 14 | 1.00 |
| Viral load level | ||||||||||
| Detectable | 21 | 8/0/13 | −79 | −15 | 0.06 | 24 | 15/0/9 | 8 | 32 | 0.29 |
| Undetectable | 10 | 4/0/6 | −27 | −119 | 0.49 | 7 | 5/0/2 | 119 | 30 | 0.30 |
| CD4 cell count | ||||||||||
| ≥ 350 cells/mm3 | 13 | 4/0/9 | −64 | −88 | 0.21 | 14 | 9/0/5 | 16 | 28 | 0.76 |
| < 350 cells/mm3 | 18 | 8/0/10 | −60 | −16 | 0.14 | 17 | 11/0/6 | 47 | 34 | 0.05 |
HAART, Highly active antiretroviral therapy.
a
The median timespan for ‘before-to-during’ changes in 36 men was 6.2 months.
b
The median timespan for ‘during-to-after’ changes in 35 men was 4.2 months.
c
Indicates how many men had an increase, no change or decrease in measurements.
d
Mean and median values are subject to some viral load values being below the limit of detection and truncated, as described in the text. P values obtained by Wilcoxon signed rank test.
e
Indicates men who were not receiving antiretroviral therapy.