Elevated levels of inflammatory plasma biomarkers are associated with risk of HIV infection

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Samantha McInally, Yerkes National Primate Research Center; Kristin Wall, Emory University; Tianwei Yu, Emory University; Rabindra Tirouvanziam, Emory University; William Kilembe, Zambia Emory HIV Res Project; Jill Gilmour, Imperial College, London; Susan Allen, Emory University; Eric Hunter, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2021-03-17
• Publisher: BMC
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © The Author(s) 2021
• License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12977-021-00552-6
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: RETROVIROLOGY
• Volume: 18
• Issue: 1
• Start Page: 8
• End Page: 8
• Grant/Funding Information: This study was funded by Grants R01 AI 51231 (to E.H.), R01 AI (to E.H.), and F31 AI 145750 (to S.M.) from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health. This work was also supported, in part, by the Virology Core at the Emory Center for AIDS Research by performing the Luminex assays (grant P30 AI050409) and the Yerkes National Primate Research Center base grant through the Office of Research Infrastructure Programs/OD P51OD11132.; It was also supported in part by the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (S.A.), whose work is make possible by support from many donors, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, Irish Aid, the Ministry of Finance of Japan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Netherlands, the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation, the UK Department for International Development, and the US Agency for International Development (USAID). The full list of IAVI donors is available . E.H. is a Georgia Eminent Scholar.
• Keywords: DISEASE; MICROBIAL TRANSLOCATION; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; HIV discordant couples; ACTIVE TUBERCULOSIS; Virology; SYSTEMIC CYTOKINE; ACQUISITION; TUBERCULOSIS INFECTION; PLASMODIUM-VIVAX MALARIA; HIV pathogenesis; HIV acquisition; GENITAL INFLAMMATION; Science & Technology; FRACTALKINE; Cytokines; Chemokines; PREVALENCE
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Pathology

Abstract

Background: To determine if individuals, from HIV-1 serodiscordant couple cohorts from Rwanda and Zambia, who become HIV-positive have a distinct inflammatory biomarker profile compared to individuals who remain HIV-negative, we compared levels of biomarkers in plasma of HIV-negative individuals who either seroconverted (pre-infection) and became HIV-positive or remained HIV-negative (uninfected). Results: We observed that individuals in the combined cohort, as well as those in the individual country cohorts, who later became HIV-1 infected had significantly higher baseline levels of multiple inflammatory cytokines/chemokines compared to individuals who remained HIV-negative. Genital inflammation/ulceration or schistosome infections were not associated with this elevated profile. Defined levels of ITAC and IL-7 were significant predictors of later HIV acquisition in ROC predictive analyses, whereas the classical Th1 and Th2 inflammatory cytokines such as IL-12 and interferon-γ or IL-4, IL-5 and Il-13 were not. Conclusions: Overall, the data show a significant association between increased plasma biomarkers linked to inflammation and immune activation and HIV acquisition and suggests that pre-existing conditions that increase systemic biomarkers represent a factor for increased risk of HIV infection. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]