The Effect of a Year of Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy on Immune Reconstruction and Cytokines in HIV/AIDS Patients

To investigate the effect of a year of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) on immune reconstruction and cytokine production in HIV/AIDS patients, 35 AIDS patients were recruited for HAART treatment and 35 healthy volunteers were assigned as controls. The dynamic changes in HIV load, blood T cell subset counts, as well as interleukin (IL)-12, interferon (IFN)-gamma, and interferon-inducible protein-10 (IP-10) levels in AIDS patients were evaluated before HAART and at 6 and 12 months after therapy. Our results revealed that HIV virus load in HIV/AIDS patients was reduced below the detectable limit after patients received 6 months of HAART. CD3(+)CD4(+), CD4(+)CD45RA(+)62L(+), and CD4(+)CD45RO(+) T cells were found to be significantly decreased in HIV/AIDS patients compared to the healthy controls, but increased after HAART. CD3(+)CD8(+) and CD8(+)CD38(+) cells were found to be increased in HIV/AIDS patients but decreased after HAART. Plasma IL-12 and IFN-gamma levels were lower but IP-10 level was higher in AIDS patients compared to controls. HAART significantly improved IL-12 and IFN- gamma levels but reduced IP-10 level in AIDS patients (p < 0.01). CD4(+)CD45RA(+)62L(+) and CD4(+)CD45RO(+) T cells were positively correlated with plasma IL-12/IFN-gamma levels (p < 0.05), but negatively correlated with plasma IP-10 level. However, CD3(+)CD8(+) cells were negatively correlated with plasma IL-12 and IFN-gamma levels, but positively correlated with IP-10 level (p < 0.05). HAART benefits HIV/AIDS patients by not only inhibiting virus replication but also by contributing to immune reconstruction, such as restoring subsets of T cells and adjusting cytokine production in HIV/AIDS patients.