Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Multicenter Study
. 2016 Jun 1;72(2):162-70.
doi: 10.1097/QAI.0000000000000928.

Association of Hepatitis C Virus Infection With CD4/CD8 Ratio in HIV-Positive Women

Mark H Kuniholm  1 , Thomas R OʼBrien, Ludmila Prokunina-Olsson, Michael Augenbraun, Michael Plankey, Roksana Karim, Monika Sarkar, Audrey L French, Chris Pierce, Howard D Strickler, Kathryn Anastos
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Association of Hepatitis C Virus Infection With CD4/CD8 Ratio in HIV-Positive Women

Mark H Kuniholm et al. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. .

Abstract

Background: Recent studies reported that the CD4/CD8 T-cell ratio is inversely associated with biomarkers traditionally used to measure immune activation and systemic inflammation in highly active antiretroviral therapy-treated HIV-infected (HIV+) patients. The relation of hepatitis C virus (HCV) coinfection with the CD4/CD8 ratio in HIV+ patients is unknown.

Methods: We examined 50,201 CD4/CD8 ratios measured over 20 years in 3 groups of HIV+ women enrolled in the Women's Interagency HIV Study: HCV antibody negative (n = 1734), cleared HCV (n = 231), and chronic HCV (n = 751) in multivariate models. IFNL4-ΔG genotype and HCV viral load were also considered.

Results: Compared with HCV antibody negative status, chronic HCV infection was associated with lower CD4/CD8 ratios when HIV viral load was suppressed to the lower limit of quantification (β = -0.08; P = 0.002). Cleared HCV (β = -0.10; P = 0.0009), but not IFNL4-ΔG genotype or HCV viral load, was also associated with lower CD4/CD8 ratios when HIV viral load was suppressed to the lower limit of quantification.

Conclusions: The association of HCV coinfection with CD4/CD8 ratio is consistent with previously observed associations of HCV coinfection with biomarkers traditionally used to measure immune activation and systemic inflammation in HIV+ patients. These data provide additional support for the use of CD4/CD8 ratio for routine monitoring of immune activation and inflammation in HIV+ patients, including those with HIV/HCV coinfection; however, the unexpected association between cleared HCV and lower CD4/CD8 ratio requires additional study.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Mean CD4/CD8 ratios over time in HIV-positive WIHS women. Several cross-sectional studies have observed higher CD4/CD8 ratios in older vs. younger healthy adults.– It is unclear whether the higher mean CD4/CD8 ratios observed at later vs. earlier WIHS visits shown in figure reflect (1) age-related increases in CD4/CD8 ratios, (2) increases in CD4/CD8 ratios due to improvements in HIV treatment and clinical care since 1994, (3) unmeasured factors, or (4) a combination of (1–3).
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Mean CD4 T-cell levels over time in HIV-positive WIHS women.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Mean CD8 T-cell levels over time in HIV-positive WIHS women.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Deeks SG, Tracy R, Douek DC. Systemic effects of inflammation on health during chronic HIV infection. Immunity. 2013;39:633–645. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hearps AC, Martin GE, Rajasuriar R, et al. Inflammatory co-morbidities in HIV+ individuals: learning lessons from healthy ageing. Curr HIV/AIDS Rep. 2014;11:20–34. - PubMed
    1. Zheng L, Taiwo B, Gandhi RT, et al. Factors associated with CD8+ T-cell activation in HIV-1-infected patients on long-term antiretroviral therapy. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2014;67:153–160. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Serrano-Villar S, Gutierrez C, Vallejo A, et al. The CD4/CD8 ratio in HIV-infected subjects is independently associated with T-cell activation despite long-term viral suppression. J Infect. 2013;66:57–66. - PubMed
    1. Serrano-Villar S, Sainz T, Lee SA, et al. HIV-infected individuals with low CD4/CD8 ratio despite effective antiretroviral therapy exhibit altered T cell subsets, heightened CD8+ T cell activation, and increased risk of non-AIDS morbidity and mortality. PLoS Pathog. 2014;10:e1004078. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types