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. 2016 Mar 15;213(6):1008-12.
doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiv521. Epub 2015 Nov 1.

Short-term Treatment With Interferon Alfa Diminishes Expression of HIV-1 and Reduces CD4+ T-Cell Activation in Patients Coinfected With HIV and Hepatitis C Virus and Receiving Antiretroviral Therapy

Sara Morón-López  1 , Elisabet Gómez-Mora  1 , Maria Salgado  1 , Dan Ouchi  1 , Maria C Puertas  1 , Víctor Urrea  1 , Jordi Navarro  2 , Antoni Jou  3 , Mercedes Pérez  2 , Cristina Tural  3 , Bonaventura Clotet  4 , Luis J Montaner  5 , Julià Blanco  6 , Manuel Crespo  2 , Javier Martinez-Picado  7
Affiliations

Short-term Treatment With Interferon Alfa Diminishes Expression of HIV-1 and Reduces CD4+ T-Cell Activation in Patients Coinfected With HIV and Hepatitis C Virus and Receiving Antiretroviral Therapy

Sara Morón-López et al. J Infect Dis. .

Abstract

Long-term treatment with interferon (IFN) alfa plus ribavirin decreases the proviral human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV) DNA level. However, the short-term impact of IFN alfa on persistent HIV and its effects on immune activation after antiretroviral therapy remain unknown. Our study showed that the cell-associated HIV RNA level and CD4(+) T-cell activation decreased in the IFN group (n = 10). No changes were detected in levels of residual plasma viremia, replication-competent reservoirs, proviral DNA, or 2-long-terminal repeat circles, although APOBEC3G, TRIM5α, BST2, and TRIM22 were upregulated in the IFN group. These data suggest that short-term treatment with IFN alfa combined with RBV decreases HIV expression, in part through inhibition of HIV transcription by TRIM22 and decrease in T-cell activation.

Keywords: CD4+ T-cell subpopulations; HIV RNA expression; HIV persistence; HIV/HCV coinfection; IFN alfa; Siglec-1; TRIM22; immune activation.

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