Title:Autoantibodies Among HIV-1 Infected Individuals and the Effect of Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) on It
Volume: 19
Issue: 3
Author(s): Runal John Steve, Diviya Alex, Binesh Lal Yesudhason, John Antony Jude Prakash, Nitty Skariah Mathews, Dolly Daniel, Veena Vadhini Ramalingam, John Paul Demosthenes, Ben Chirag Ghale, Raghavendran Anantharam, Grace Rebekah, Priscilla Rupali, George Mannil Varghese and Rajesh Kannangai*
Affiliation:
- Department of Clinical Virology, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, 632004,India
Keywords:
Autoantibodies, anti-nuclear antibody (ANA), IgG anti-cardiolipin antibody (aCL), IgM and IgG anti-beta 2 glycoprotein-
1 antibodies (β2 GP1), autoimmunity, HIV-1 infection, antiretroviral therapy, ART naïve and ART experienced.
Abstract: Background: Antiretroviral therapy (ART) has led to a decline in autoimmune diseases
but lacks studies on its effect on autoantibodies.
Methods: It is a cross-sectional study with archived samples from 100 paired HIV-1 infected ART
naïve and experienced individuals and 100 prospectively collected matched blood-donor controls.
Antinuclear antibody, IgG anticardiolipin antibody, IgM and IgG β2 glycoprotein-1 antibodies, and
total IgG levels were detected. Results are expressed as mean with standard deviation (SD), median,
percentage positivity, and a p<0.05 is considered significant. The study was approved by the
Institutional Review Board.
Results: The median viral load of the treatment naïve samples was 4.34 Log copies/mL, while all
were virally suppressed post ART with a median duration of treatment for 12 months (range: 3-36
months). The percentage of antinuclear antibody positivity was 5% among ART naïve and controls,
with a decrease of 2% post ART (p= 0.441). The positivity for anti-cardiolipin antibody was
15% among ART naïve while none of the ART experienced or controls were positive (p<0.05).
IgM β2 glycoprotein-1 were 4%, 1% and 3% among ART naïve, treated and controls, respectively
(p<0.05). IgG β2 glycoprotein-1 was 2% among ART naïve while none of the treated and controls
were positive (p<0.05). The mean total IgG level among ART naïve, experienced, and controls
were 21.82 (SD 6.67), 16.91 (SD 3.38), 13.70 (SD 2.24) grams/Litre, respectively (p<0.05).
Conclusion: ART has a significant effect on IgG anti-cardiolipin antibody and total IgG but only a
marginal effect on ANA, IgM, and IgG β2 glycoprotein-1 antibodies.
