African ethnicity can influence immunological responses to highly active antiretroviral therapy and immunological success at 48 months: a retrospective pilot study.

Objective: To assess whether African ethnicity is independently associated with a poorer CD4 reconstitution with highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) compared to Caucasian ethnicity.
Methods: We conducted a retrospective epidemiological study among 575 HIV-1-positive patients at our center and defined immunological success as the presence of blood CD4 lymphocyte counts>500 cells/mm3 in more than 50% of the values collected from 6 to 48 months after beginning HAART. Patients displaying an HIV-1 viral load>200 copies/ml or more than one HIV-1 viral load between 20 and 200 copies/ml during follow-up, were excluded. Patients with baseline blood CD4 counts>500 cells/mm3 were also excluded.
Results: Two hundred and eighty patients met the inclusion criteria and no exclusion criteria. After 48 months of HAART, blood CD4 lymphocyte counts were lower in Africans than in Caucasians: 449 (65-975) vs. 569 (131-1698) cells/mm3 (p=0.02). Immunological success was present in 142/220 (64.5%) Caucasians vs. 29/60 (48.3%) Africans (p=0.02). African ethnicity was independently associated with the absence of immunological success (odds ratio 2.22, 95% confidence interval 1.097-4.504; p=0.02) despite similar baseline blood CD4 counts (219 vs. 204 cells/mm3, p=0.72).
Conclusion: Our findings suggest that African ethnicity is independently associated with a poorer CD4 reconstitution during HAART than Caucasian ethnicity.
(Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)