HIV antibody levels associated with people living with HIV 4688

Description BACKGROUND Chronic human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is characterized by low-level inflammation and immune activation. Antiretroviral therapy (ART) can help reduce viral load, which in turn decreases immune activation in people living with HIV (PLWH). Persistent immune activation may lead to immune exhaustion, which can reduce the body’s ability to respond effectively to infections. We investigated whether HIV antibody responses could be used to indirectly measure persistent HIV replication in individuals receiving ART. METHODS Banked plasma were obtained from individuals (n = 13) with detectable viral load, individuals with undetectable viral load (n = 13) and people not living HIV (PNLWH) (n = 4). HIV antigens were obtained from the NIH HIV Reagent Program against five HIV viral antigens: gp140 (env), p51(reverse transcriptase), gp41(transmembrane), gp120 (env) and p24 (core); and coupled to microsphere beads (Luminex Corp, TX). The plasma were assayed using MagPix (Luminex Corp, TX). RESULTS We observed significantly higher p51 antibody titer levels in viremic PLWH compared to virally suppressed PLWH (p = 0.030). However, virally suppressed and viremic PLWH produced similar antibody levels to gp140, gp41, gp120 and p24 compared to PNLWH control. CONCLUSION Despite virologic suppression, substantial and similar amounts of gp140, gp41, gp120 and p24 continue to be present in plasma on individuals with undetectable viral load compared to those with detectable viral load Funding Sources NHLBI 5K12HL143960-05 and NIMHD 3U54MD007601-37S1 Topic Categories Viral Immunology (VIR)