1. IgG abnormalities in HIV-positive Malawian women initiating antiretroviral therapy during pregnancy persist after 24 months of treatment.
- Author
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Baroncelli S, Maria Galluzzo C, Liotta G, Orlando S, Ciccacci F, Andreotti M, Mpwhere R, Luhanga R, Sagno JB, Amici R, Marazzi MC, and Giuliano M
- Subjects
- Adult, CD4 Lymphocyte Count, Female, HIV Infections virology, HIV Seropositivity, Humans, Hypergammaglobulinemia, Malawi, Postpartum Period, Pregnancy, Young Adult, Anti-Retroviral Agents therapeutic use, HIV immunology, HIV Infections drug therapy, Immunoglobulin G blood
- Abstract
Objectives: Hypergammaglobulinemia and anomalies in the IgG subclass distribution are common in HIV-infected individuals and persist even after many years of antiretroviral therapy (ART). The aim of this study was to investigate the IgG profile and dynamics in pregnant HIV-infected Malawian women in the Option B era., Methods: Thirty-seven treatment-naive women received ART from the third trimester of pregnancy to 6 months post delivery (end of the breastfeeding period). ART continuation (group C) or interruption (group I) was then decided on the basis of the CD4+ cell count at enrolment (>350 or ≤350/μl). Total IgG and IgG subclasses were determined in maternal serum using a nephelometric assay at baseline and at 6 and 24 months postpartum., Results: At enrolment, 36/37 women had IgG levels >15g/l and there was a predominance of the IgG1 isotype (more than 90%) in parallel with underrepresentation of IgG2 (5.0%). After 6 months of ART, both groups showed a significant median decrease in total IgG (-3.1g/l in group I, -3.5g/l in group C) and in IgG1 (-4.0g/l and -3.6g/l, respectively), but only a modest recovery in IgG2 levels (+0.16 in group I, +0.14g/l in group C). At month 24, hypergammaglobulinemia was still present in 73.7% of women in group C, although a significant reduction was observed in total IgG level and in IgG1 and IgG3 subclasses (p<0.0001 in all cases). IgG2 levels did not show any significant change. In group I at 24 months, total IgG and IgG subclasses had returned to levels comparable to those at baseline., Conclusions: The beneficial effects of 24 months of ART appear to be limited in the B-cell compartment, with an incomplete reduction of total IgG levels and no recovery of IgG2 depletion. A short ART period did not have significant effects on IgG abnormalities in women who interrupted treatment., (Copyright © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)
- Published
- 2019
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