Inflammatory and immune markers in HIV-infected older adults on long-term antiretroviral therapy: Persistent elevation of sCD14 and of proinflammatory effector memory T cells.
Makiko WatanabeMladen JergovicLisa DavidsonBonnie J LaFleurYvonne CastanedaCarmine MartinezMegan J SmitheyRaymond P StoweElias K HaddadJanko Nikolich-ŽugichPublished in: Aging cell (2022)
HIV-positive patients whose viral loads are successfully controlled by active antiretroviral therapy (ART) show no clinical signs of AIDS. However, their lifespan is shorter compared with individuals with no HIV infection and they prematurely exhibit a multitude of chronic diseases typically associated with advanced age. It was hypothesized that immune system aging may correlate with, and provide useful biomarkers for, this premature loss of healthspan in HIV-positive subjects. Here, we tested whether the immune correlates of aging, including cell numbers and phenotypes, inflammatory status, and control of human cytomegalovirus (hCMV) in HIV-positive subjects on long-term successful ART (HIV+) may reveal increased "immunological age" compared with HIV-negative, age-matched cohort (HIV-) in participants between 50 and 69 years of age. Specifically, we expected that younger HIV+ subjects may immunologically resemble older individuals without HIV. We found no evidence to support this hypothesis. While T cells from HIV+ participants displayed differential expression in several differentiation and/or inhibitory/exhaustion markers in different T cell subpopulations, aging by a decade did not pronounce these changes. Similarly, while the HIV+ participants exhibited higher T cell responses and elevated inflammatory marker levels in plasma, indicative of chronic inflammation, this trait was not age-sensitive. We did find differences in immune control of hCMV, and, more importantly, a sustained elevation of sCD14 and of proinflammatory CD4 and CD8 T cell responses across age groups, pointing towards uncontrolled inflammation as a factor in reduced healthspan in successfully treated older HIV+ patients.
Keyphrases
- antiretroviral therapy
- hiv positive
- hiv infected
- human immunodeficiency virus
- hiv aids
- hiv infected patients
- men who have sex with men
- oxidative stress
- south africa
- end stage renal disease
- ejection fraction
- endothelial cells
- chronic kidney disease
- physical activity
- gene expression
- sars cov
- epstein barr virus
- single cell
- mesenchymal stem cells