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
. 2025 Jul 28:48:101079.
doi: 10.1016/j.bbih.2025.101079. eCollection 2025 Oct.

Inside out: TNFa-RII and sexualized drug use in acute HIV predicts persistent depressive symptoms despite antiretroviral therapy

Jennifer V Chavez  1 , Jacob Bolzenius  2 , Phillip Chan  3   4 , Kyu Cho  2 , Julie Mannarino  2 , Carlo Sacdalan  5   6 , Shelli Farhadian  3   4   7 , Lydie Trautmann  8   9 , Lishomwa C Ndhlovu  10   11 , Somporn Tipsuk  5 , Trevor A Crowell  8   9 , Shelly J Krebs  8 , Bonnie Slike  8   9 , Duanghathai Suttichom  5 , Donn J Colby  8   9 , Nittaya Phanuphak  10 , Eugène Kroon  5 , Sandhya Vasan  9   10 , Somchai Sriplienchan  5 , Serena Spudich  3   4 , Robert Paul  2 , Adam W Carrico  12
Affiliations

Inside out: TNFa-RII and sexualized drug use in acute HIV predicts persistent depressive symptoms despite antiretroviral therapy

Jennifer V Chavez et al. Brain Behav Immun Health. .

Abstract

Objective: Although pathophysiologic alterations during acute HIV infection (AHI) may have long-term neuropsychiatric consequences, scant research has examined biobehavioral predictors of distinct depressive symptom trajectories from AHI through suppressive anti-retroviral therapy (ART), despite the fact that depressive symptoms have been associated with poorer adherence to ART and overall quality of life.

Methods: This analysis utilized data from the RV254/SEARCH010 Cohort, a large, well-characterized AHI cohort in Bangkok, Thailand. Longitudinal hierarchal density-based spatial clustering with uniform manifold approximation and projection was used to examine depressive symptom trajectories from AHI through 96 weeks of suppressive ART. Logistic regressions examined the immunologic and behavioral correlates of persistently high (versus low) depressive symptom trajectories.

Results: Participants (N = 502) were between the ages of 18 and 70, with a mean age of 27.7 (SD 7.4). The sample was predominantly male (98 %, n = 494). Three depressive symptom trajectories emerged: Cluster 1 (n = 257, 51 %) persistently high, Cluster 2 (n = 61, 12 %) transient, and Cluster 3 (n = 184, 37 %) persistently low. There were greater odds of persistently high (versus low) depressive symptoms for every log10copies/mL increase in plasma viral load (Odds Ratio [OR] = 1.27; 95 % Confidence Interval [CI] = 0.99-3.35) and sTNF-αRII (OR = 1.23, 95 % CI = 1.04, 1.45) at baseline. Recent amyl nitrite use also increased risk (OR = 2.39; 95 % CI = 1.17, 4.88).

Conclusions: Viral load, inflammation and substance use may be viable targets for reducing risk for depressive disorders in people with HIV, even in its earliest stages.

Keywords: Acute HIV infection; Chemsex; Inflammation; depression.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Depressive symptom trajectories identified in the group based multi-trajectory analysis aRed dotted line represents cut off for mild depressive symptoms. Total scores of 5, 10, 15 and 20 on the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) correspond to cutoff points for mild, moderate, moderately severe and severe depression, respectively.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Adebajo S.B., Adebiyi R., Chama J., Bello S., ONONAKU U., Aka A., Lai S., Baral S.D., Dyer T.V., Crowell T.A., Nowak R.G., Charurat M. Depression and sexual stigma are associated with cardiometabolic risk among sexual and gender minorities living with HIV in Nigeria. J. Acquir. Immune Defic. Syndr. 2023;92:50–58. doi: 10.1097/QAI.0000000000003096. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ananworanich J., Schuetz A., Vandergeeten C., Sereti I., de Souza M., Rerknimitr R., Dewar R., Marovich M., van Griensven F., Sekaly R., Pinyakorn S., Phanuphak N., Trichavaroj R., Rutvisuttinunt W., Chomchey N., Paris R., Peel S., Valcour V., Maldarelli F., Chomont N., Michael N., Phanuphak P., Kim J.H. Impact of multi-targeted antiretroviral treatment on gut T cell depletion and HIV reservoir seeding during acute HIV infection. PLoS One. 2012;7 doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0033948. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Benjamini Y., Hochberg Y. Controlling the false discovery rate: a practical and powerful approach to multiple testing. J. Roy. Stat. Soc. B. 1995;57:289–300. doi: 10.1111/j.2517-6161.1995.tb02031.x. - DOI
    1. Bosi A., Banfi D., Bistoletti M., Giaroni C., Baj A. Int JTryptophanRes. Tryptophan Metabolites Along the Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis: An Interkingdom Communication System Influencing the Gut in Health and Disease. 2020;13 doi: 10.1177/1178646920928984. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Brown M.J., Gao C., Kaur A., Qiao S., Li X. Social support, internalized HIV stigma, resilience and depression among people living with HIV: a moderated mediation analysis. AIDS Behav. 2023;27:1106–1115. doi: 10.1007/s10461-022-03847-7. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources