51. Sex Differences in Human Immunodeficiency Virus Persistence and Reservoir Size During Aging
- Author
-
Sara Gianella, Stephen A Rawlings, Curtis Dobrowolski, Masato Nakazawa, Antoine Chaillon, Matthew Strain, Laura Layman, Gemma Caballero, Eileen Scully, Brianna Scott, Caitleen Pacis, Kathleen M Weber, Alan Landay, Christy Anderson, and Jonathan Karn
- Subjects
Microbiology (medical) ,CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes ,Male ,Aging ,Art initiation ,Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) ,Physiology ,menopause ,HIV Infections ,medicine.disease_cause ,HIV reservoir ,Medical and Health Sciences ,Microbiology ,Replication competent virus ,Persistence (computer science) ,Median follow-up ,Major Article ,Medicine ,Humans ,Retrospective Studies ,Sex Characteristics ,business.industry ,RNA ,HIV ,Viral Load ,Middle Aged ,Biological Sciences ,medicine.disease ,Menopause ,Infectious Diseases ,Good Health and Well Being ,HIV/AIDS ,Female ,business ,Infection ,sex at birth ,Hormone - Abstract
Background Sex differences in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) reservoir dynamics remain underexplored. Methods Longitudinal samples from virally suppressed midlife women (n = 59, median age 45 years) and age-matched men (n = 31) were analyzed retrospectively. At each time point, we measured sex hormones (by means of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) and cellular HIV DNA and RNA (by means of digital droplet polymerase chain reaction). Number of inducible HIV RNA+ cells, which provides an upper estimate of the replication-competent reservoir, was quantified longitudinally in a different subset of 14 women, across well-defined reproductive stages. Mixed-effects models included normalized reservoir outcomes and sex, time since antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation, and the sex-by-time interaction as predictors. Results At ART initiation, women and men had median (interquartile range [IQR]) CD4+ T-cell counts of 204/μL (83–306/μL) versus 238/μL (120–284/μL), respectively; median ages of 45 (42–48) versus 47 (43–51) years; and median follow-up times of 79.2/μL (60.5–121.1/μL) versus 66.2/μL (43.2–80.6/μL) months. We observed a significant decline of total HIV DNA over time in both men and women (P Conclusions In contrast to men, in whom the HIV reservoir steadily declines with aging, the HIV reservoir in women is more dynamic. Total HIV DNA (including intact and defective genomes) declines more slowly in women than in men, while the inducible HIV RNA+ reservoir, which is highly enriched in replication-competent virus, increases in women after menopause.
- Published
- 2022