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Modifications of CD4 T cells, CD4/CD8 ratio and serum levels of soluble CD14 in HIV-HCV-coinfected patients after sustained HCV response induced by direct-acting antiviral agents: influence of liver cirrhosis

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Abstract

To analyze the modifications of CD4 T cell, CD4/CD8 ratio, and serum levels of soluble CD14 (sCD14) in HIV/HCV-coinfected patients after treatment with direct anti-HCV antiviral agents. Consecutive cases of HIV/HCV-coinfected patients, attended at the University Hospital, who achieved sustained virological responses with interferon-free hepatitis C antiviral drugs, were analyzed. Thirty-five percent of patients (n = 39) had been diagnosed with liver cirrhosis. The evaluation criteria were changes in CD4 T-cell counts and percentages and inflammation (measured by serum sCD14 levels) or immune activation indexes (determined by CD4/CD8 ratio) from beginning anti-HCV therapy to 12 months later. One hundred twelve patients were included (87% male; median age, 54 years; median time from the infection diagnosis, 22 years; previous drug users, 87%). Significant increases in CD4 T cell count and percentage were detected only in individuals without liver cirrhosis. No significant differences in CD4/CD8 ratios or sCD14 levels were observed in patients with or without cirrhosis. The proportion of patients with less than 500 CD4 T cell/mm3 before therapy who achieved more than 500 CD4 T cell/mm3 after it increased only in the group without liver cirrhosis. The finding that CD4 T cell count and percentage were improved only in patients without liver cirrhosis supports the idea that treatment against HCV in HIV/HCV-coinfected patients is needed in the early phases of liver disease.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge to Adrianne E. Jones for technical assistance with the English language.

Funding

This work was supported by a grant of the Secretaría General de Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación en Salud, Junta de Andalucía, Iniciativa Territorial Integrada 2014-2020 para la provincia de Cádiz (No PI-0076-2017), Spain. Co-financed by FEDER (Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional).

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Author notes

  1. José-Antonio Girón-Ortega and Mercedes Márquez-Coello contributed equally to this work.

  2. Sara Cuesta-Sancho and José Antonio Girón-González contributted equally to this work as senior authors.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Servicio de Medicina Interna, Hospital Universitario Virgen Macarena, Sevilla, Spain

    José-Antonio Girón-Ortega

  2. Servicio de Medicina Interna, Hospital Universitario Puerta del Mar, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Cádiz, Instituto para la Investigación e Innovación en Ciencias Biomédicas de Cádiz (INiBICA), Avda Ana de Viya s/n, 11009, Cádiz, Spain

    Mercedes Márquez-Coello, Daniel Gutiérrez-Saborido, Ana Arizcorreta, Sara Cuesta-Sancho & José-Antonio Girón-González

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  1. José-Antonio Girón-Ortega
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Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: José-Antonio Girón-Ortega; Mercedes Márquez-Coello; Sara Cuesta Sancho; José-Antonio Girón-González

Acquisition of data: Mercedes Márquez-Coello; Daniel Guitérrez Saborido, Ana Arizcorreta, Sara Cuesta Sancho; José-Antonio Girón-González

Analysis and interpretation of data: José-Antonio Girón-Ortega; Mercedes Márquez-Coello; Sara Cuesta Sancho; José-Antonio Girón-González

Article drafting: José-Antonio Girón-Ortega; Mercedes Márquez-Coello; Sara Cuesta Sancho; José-Antonio Girón-González.

All authors contributed to the conception of the study and critical revision of the manuscript and saw and approved the final version.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to José-Antonio Girón-González.

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Ethics approval

All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2008. The ethical research committee of Hospital Puerta del Mar (Cádiz, Spain) approved the project.

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Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in the study.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Girón-Ortega, JA., Márquez-Coello, M., Gutiérrez-Saborido, D. et al. Modifications of CD4 T cells, CD4/CD8 ratio and serum levels of soluble CD14 in HIV-HCV-coinfected patients after sustained HCV response induced by direct-acting antiviral agents: influence of liver cirrhosis. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 40, 1863–1871 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-021-04237-y

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