Quantitative Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)-1 Antibodies Correlate With Plasma HIV-1 RNA and Cell-associated DNA Levels in Children on Antiretroviral Therapy
Margaret McManus, Jennifer Henderson, Anita Gautam, Robin Brody, Eric R Weiss, Deborah Persaud, Eric Mick, Katherine Luzuriaga, PACTG 356 Investigators, Hannah Gay, William Borkowsky, Russell van Dyke, Barbara Stechenberg, Kenneth McIntosh, John Farley, Stephen Pelton, Ann Petru, Stephen Spector, Vincent Bonagura, Coleen Cunningham, Audra Deveikis, Andrea Ruff, William Shearer, Ross McKinney, Saroj Bakshi, Thomas Rubio, Kenneth Rich, Sunanda Gaur, George Johnson, Sohail Rana, John Sleasman, Irma Febo, Margaret McManus, Jennifer Henderson, Anita Gautam, Robin Brody, Eric R Weiss, Deborah Persaud, Eric Mick, Katherine Luzuriaga, PACTG 356 Investigators, Hannah Gay, William Borkowsky, Russell van Dyke, Barbara Stechenberg, Kenneth McIntosh, John Farley, Stephen Pelton, Ann Petru, Stephen Spector, Vincent Bonagura, Coleen Cunningham, Audra Deveikis, Andrea Ruff, William Shearer, Ross McKinney, Saroj Bakshi, Thomas Rubio, Kenneth Rich, Sunanda Gaur, George Johnson, Sohail Rana, John Sleasman, Irma Febo
Abstract
Background: This study measured serial plasma human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1-specific antibody (Ab) levels in children who initiated antiretroviral therapy (ART) prior to 2 years of age, and evaluated their relationship to peripheral blood HIV-1 RNA and DNA levels.
Methods: We studied 46 HIV-1-infected children, stratified by age at ART initiation (<3 mo, early therapy [ET]; >3 mo-2 years, late therapy [LT]) and by virologic response (R) or non-response (NR), before and up to 4 years following ART. We studied 20 HIV-1-uninfected children born to HIV-1-infected mothers (seroreverters [SR]) as controls. Plasma immunoglobulin G (IgG) Ab levels directed against HIV-1 envelope (gp160, gp41), gag (capsid, p24; matrix, p17), reverse transcriptase (p66/51), and integrase (p31) were serially measured using quantitative enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. HIV-1 Ab rates of decline were estimated over the first 15 months of the study.
Results: The HIV-1 Ab rates of decline in the ET-R group were similar to those in the SR group for all Ab specificities, except for p17 (P = .01). Ab decline rates in the LT-R group and the NR group were significantly slower than in the SR group for all tested Ab specificities. After 1 year of age, Ab levels to p31 and p17 were significantly associated with HIV-1 RNA levels (P < .001); Ab levels to gp160 (P < .001) and gp41 (P < .001) were significantly associated with cell-associated HIV-1 DNA levels.
Conclusions: Quantitative HIV-1-specific Ab levels may be useful for screening children on ART for viral suppression or for residual, cell-associated HIV-1 DNA levels.
Clinical trials registration: NCT00000872.
Keywords: HIV-1 persistence; HIV-1 quantitative antibodies; pediatric early antiretroviral therapy.
© The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.
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Source: PubMed