Analysis of the Immunological Response to Antiviral Therapy in Patients with Different Subtypes of HIV/AIDS: a Retrospective Cohort Study

Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of standardised antiretroviral therapy (ART) among different HIV subtypes in people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), and to screen the best ART regimen for this patient population.Design A retrospective cohort study was performed, and PLWHA residing in Huzhou, China, between 2018 and 2020, were enrolled.Setting and participants Data from 625 patients, who were newly diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in the AIDS Prevention and Control Information System in Huzhou between 2018 and 2020, were reviewed.Analysis and outcome measures Data regarding demographic characteristics and laboratory investigation results were collected. Immune system recovery was used to assess the effectiveness of ART, and an increased percentage of CD4+ T lymphocyte counts >30% after receiving ART for >1 year was determined as immunopositive. A multiple logistic regression model was used to comprehensively quantify the association between PLWHA immunological response status and virus subtype. In addition, the joint association between different subtypes and treatment regimens on immunological response status was investigated.Results Among 326 enrolled PLWHA with circulating recombinant forms (CRFs) CRF01_AE, CRF07_BC and other HIV/AIDS subtypes, the percentages of immunopositivity were 74.0%, 65.6% and 69.6%, respectively. According to multivariate logistic regression models, there was no difference in the immunological response between patients with CRF01_AE, CRF07_BC and other subtypes of HIV/AIDS who underwent ART (CRF07_BC: adjusted OR (aOR) (95% CI) = 0.8 (0.4 to 1.4); other subtypes: aOR (95% CI) = 1.2 (0.6 to 2.3)). There was no evidence of an obvious joint association between HIV subtypes and ART regimens on immunological response.Conclusions Standardised ART was beneficial to all PLWHA, regardless of HIV subtypes, although it was more effective, to some extent, in PLWHA with CRF01_AE.