Table 1.
Study population
| Parameter | Control group (n = 22) | HIV infected ART naïve (n = 66) (Naïve) | p valuea | HIV infected 9 months on ART (n = 66) (ART) | p valueb |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age (years) | 33 ± 7 | 33 ± 8 | 0.9 | – | – |
| Female sex | 11 (50%) | 30 (46%) | 0.8 | – | – |
| Self–identified race | |||||
| Black African | 9 (41%) | 53 (80%) | 0.002 | – | – |
| Coloured | 12 (55%) | 12 (18%) | |||
| Caucasian | 1 (4%) | 1 (2%) | |||
| Monthly household income (South African Rand per month) | |||||
| < 5000 | 4 (18%) | 30 (45%) | 0.003 | – | – |
| 5000 to 20,000 | 14 (77%) | 35 (53%) | |||
| > 20 000 | 4 (18%) | 1 (2%) | |||
| Smoking history | 6 (27%) | 33 (50%) | 0.06 | 34 (52%) | – |
| Ethanol (units per week) | 0.5 (0 to 7) | 4 (0 to 12) | 0.2 | 0 (0 to 11) | 0.03 |
| Waist circumference (cm) | 95 ± 18 | 80 ± 9 | < 0.001 | 82 ± 9 | 0.09 |
| Body mass index (kg/m2) | 30 ± 8 | 23 ± 4 | 0.001 | 24 ± 4 | 0.03 |
| World Health Organisation HIV clinical stage | |||||
| I | – | 26 (39%) | – | 26 (39%) | – |
| II | 19 (29%) | 19 (29%) | |||
| III | 20 (30%) | 19 (29%) | |||
| IV | 1 (2%) | 2 (3%) | |||
| On treatment for TB | 10 (15%) | – | 2* (3%) | ||
| Pulmonary | – | 8 | 0 | ||
| Extra–pulmonary | 2 | 2 | |||
| Days since HIV diagnosis | – | 8 (4 to 22) | – | 302 (283 to 386) | |
| Time to interim follow up (months) | – | – | 4 (3 to 7) | – | |
| Time to 9 months follow up (months) | – | – | 9 (9 to 10) | – | |
| History of proven COVID–19 (mild disease) | 1 (5%) | None | – | 1 (2%) | – |
| Antibody evidence of SARS–CoV–2 infection in unimmunised persons | None | Not performed at baseline | - | 17 (26%) | – |
| Medications | |||||
| Salbutamol metered dose inhaler | 1 (5%) | 1 (2%) | – | 1 (2%) | – |
| Rifampicin/isoniazid/pyrazinamide/ethambutol | – | 10 (15%) | 2 (3%) | ||
| Trimethoprim/sulphametoxazole | – | 21 (32%) | 13 (20%) | ||
| Isoniazid prophylaxis | – | 1 (2%) | 36 (55%) | ||
| Pyridoxine | – | 10 (15%) | 38 (56%) | ||
| Tenofovir/lamivudine/dolutegravir | – | Naïve | 64 (97%) | ||
| Losartan | – | 2 (3%) | |||
| Amlodipine/hydrochlorothiazide | – | 1 (2%) | 3 (5%) | ||
| Statins | – | – | 1 (2%) | ||
| Clinical course on ART | |||||
| Immunological failure** at interim or final follow up | – | – | – | 13 (20%) | – |
| Viral load > 200 copies/ml at interim or 9 months | – | – | – | 15 (23%) | – |
| 6 min walk test distance (m) | 637 ± 84 | 619 ± 95 | 0.4 | 622 ± 73 | 0.8 |
HIV Human immunodeficiency virus, TB tuberculous disease, COVID-19 coronavirus disease-19, SARS-CoV 2 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2, ART antiretroviral therapy
*One additional patient developed tuberculosis after recruitment
**Failure was defined as a CD4 drop to below baseline or a 50% decrease from the on-treatment peak value
aControls vs naïve
bNaïve vs ART
Bold values indicates p value < or = 0.05