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Current HIV Research

Editor-in-Chief

ISSN (Print): 1570-162X
ISSN (Online): 1873-4251

Research Article

Chronic Immune Activation Among Treatment Naïve HIV/ HBV Coinfected Individuals From Southern India

Author(s): John Paul Demosthenes, Gnanadurai John Fletcher, Uday George Zachariah, George Mannil Varghese, Susanne Alexander Pulimood, Priya Abraham and Rajesh Kannangai*

Volume 19, Issue 4, 2021

Published on: 13 July, 2021

Page: [332 - 341] Pages: 10

DOI: 10.2174/1570162X19666210506160642

Price: $65

Abstract

Background: Chronic immune activation is one of the most widely recognized hallmarks of HIV infection. T-cells that express CD38+ and HLA-DR+ show poor proliferative potential, signal transduction, and increased apoptotic potential. This affects HIV pathogenesis and its outcome and further complicates with a coinfection like HBV.

Methods: Study Design: cross-sectional. Blood samples were collected and analyzed for virological markers using ELISA for HBeAg and RT-PCR for HIV&HBV Viral load. Chronic immune activation markers of CD8+ and CD4+ T cells were measured by Flow cytometry for both HIV and HBV.

Results: There was a significant increase in HBV replication shown by higher HBV DNA (p=0.002), a higher proportion of HBeAg (p=0.0049), and lower CD4 counts (p=0.04) among HIV/HBV coinfected individuals, compared to the monoinfected groups. The frequencies of CD4+ CD38+ HLA-DR+ and CD8+ CD38+ HLA-DR+ in the HIV/HBV coinfection were significantly higher than HBV monoinfected group (P< 0.0001) and in the HIV monoinfected group (P < 0.0001). The Liver fibrosis score APRI and FIB-4, were higher in the coinfected group compared with HBV monoinfected group (0.67 vs. 0.25, p = 0.0085; 3.48 vs. 0.98, p = 0.0026) respectively. The cytokine levels of IL-17, Fas-L,TNF -α, IL-10, IL-2 and Granzyme B were also measured and compared among the study groups.

Conclusion: Our data suggest that HIV probably influences immune activation of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells and this may play a significant role in accelerating the disease outcome among HIV/HBV coinfected individuals.

Keywords: HIV, HBV, HIV/HBV coinfection, chronic immune activation, liver disease, CD38 and HLA-DR.

Graphical Abstract

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