Significance of Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 and Tumor Necrosis Factor-Alpha in HIV-Infected Patients

Abstract

Background. The aim of this study was the evaluation of the correlation between VCAM-1 and TNF-alpha serum concentrations and various clinical and laboratory parameters in HIV-infected patients. Methods. All included subjects were patients of the Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases and Hepatology of the Medical University of Warsaw in Poland in the years 2014–2016. The inclusion criteria were: confirmed HIV infection, Caucasian origin, and age > 18 years old. PCT, CRP, serum HIV-1 RNA, CD4/CD8 T cell count, PCR HCV RNA, HBsAg, VCAM-1, and TNF-alpha were measured. The VCAM-1 and TNF-alpha serum levels were evaluated by ELISA. Results. Seventy-two HIV-infected patients were included (16 women and 56 men: mean age 38.7 years, 66.6% cigarette smokers, 34.7% HCV co-infected HCV, and 27.8% ART-naïve). VCAM-1 concentrations were significantly higher in HIV/HCV co-infected patients than in HIV mono-infected patients (125.6 ± 85.4 vs. 78.4 ± 58.6 ng/mL, p = 0.011) and ART-naïve in comparison to patients on cART (121.9 ± 76.5 vs. 69.4 ± 57.1 ng/mL, p = 0.003). The significant positive correlation between HCV-infection and VCAM-1 and negative correlation between cART use and VCAM-1 was confirmed in multivariate analyses. The only variable associated significantly with TNF-alpha concentration was lymphocytes T CD8+ cell count (p = 0.026, estimate = 0.033). Conclusions. Successful cART and HCV eradication seemed to play an important role in the reduction of endothelial dysfunction and persistent inflammation in HIV-infected patients. CD8 T cell count seemed to be one of the markers of the pro-inflammatory state in HIV-infection patients.