Abstract
Until now, human immunodeficiency virus type 1 infection monitoring is based on plasma viral load and cluster of differentiation (CD)4–positive cells from thymus (CD4+ T cells) count. However, it is increasingly accepted that this biological monitoring should be strengthened with other markers that would reinforce the management. Therefore, we addressed this task by assessing the risk associated with therapeutic failure/success linked to the dynamic of immunological parameters in people living with HIV‐1 (PLHIV‐1) and on antiretroviral therapy (ART) in order to identify their prognostic values. Ninety enrolled PLHIV‐1 were classified according to their therapeutic status. Twenty healthy persons were also recruited as a control group. Serum cytokine levels and immune cell frequencies were determined, and the risk of therapeutic failure associated with immunological parameters was assessed. We observed low frequencies of CD4+ T, natural killer (NK), natural killer T (NKT) cells, classical monocytes, nonclassical monocytes, granulocytes, and high frequency of CD8+ T cells in all PLHIV‐1 groups in treatment failure under dolutegravir (DTG) and efavirenz (EFV) regimens compared to control participants. Moreover, interferon‐gamma (IFN‐γ) levels decreased in PLHIV‐1 with therapeutic success under the DTG regimen, while interleukin‐4 (IL‐4) increased in treatment success under the EFV regimen. Proinflammatory tumor necrosis factor‐alpha (TNF‐α), IL‐6, and IL‐7 significantly increased in therapeutic failure groups under both regimens. IL‐5 concentrations increased in all PLHIV‐1, while IL‐13 levels did not change. Logistic regression analysis revealed a positive correlation between the risk of treatment failure and proinflammatory cytokines IFN‐γ, TNF‐α, IL‐6, IL‐7, eosinophils, and CD8+ T cells in PLHIV‐1 under EFV and DTG regimes. In contrast, the risk of therapeutic failure decreased with increasing numbers of CD4+ T cells, neutrophils, and the anti‐inflammatory IL‐4 in PLHIV‐1 treated with the same antiretroviral molecules. Collectively, these results indicated that pro‐ and anti‐inflammatory cytokines and immune cells could serve as prognostic factors for monitoring HIV‐1 disease progression and response to ART. However, further studies with a larger sample size would be needed to confirm our data.