Investigation of Programmed death-1 Expression Levels in Newly Diagnosed HIV (+) Individuals

Abstract

Introduction: Antiretroviral therapy (ART) increases life expectancy by positively affecting viral load and immune system cells in individuals infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). In this study, it was aimed to examine the correlation between CD4 T cell count and viral load changes and Programmed death-1 (PD-1) level before and after ART in newly diagnosed HIV (+) individuals.Materials and Methods: Thirty HIV-infected individuals who were admitted to Sakarya University Training and Research Hospital Infectious Diseases Outpatient Clinic, had no other chronic disease, were newly diagnosed, and were to be treated for the first time with this study were included. In the follow-up of all patients, before the treatment and in the later stages of the treatment (in the 1(st) and 3(rd) months); quantitative HIV RNA levels and CD4 T and CD8 T cells counts were determined. In our study, PD-1 levels expressed from CD4 and CD8 T cells were determined by flow cytometry method.Results: A positive, moderate correlation and a statistically significant correlation (n=80, rs=0.49614, p<0.001) was found between the rate of PD-1 expressed in CD4 T cells and viral loads. A positive, moderate correlation and a statistically significant correlation (n=80, rs=0.50954, p<0.001) was found between the rate of PD-1 expressed in CD8 T lymphocytes and viral loads.Conclusion: As a result, it was concluded that PD-1 might be a marker of viral load and might be useful for monitoring viremia and changes in treatment response.