Zephaniah KWENTIE NDOUNGHO1*
1Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences University of Yaounde I
CaHReF 2018, Yaoundé Congres hall, 08 – 11 January 2019 , OSEP017
Background: By 2016 ending, WHO estimated that approximately 36.7 million people were living with HIV. Though ART leads to great suppression of viral replication, CD4 cell recovery, reduced HIV related morbidity and mortality, the expansion and persistence of CD8 T-cells coupled with heightened immune activation expose patients to non-AIDS related morbi-mortality.
Objectif: To evaluate if CD8+ T cell subsets phenotyping in association with the CD4:CD8 ratio can constitute markers to monitor HIV-1 infected adults on ART.
Methodolody: A cross-sectional analytical study was carried out from November 2017 to May 2018 on consented HIV-1 infected patients who had been on ART for at least a year. Patient`s samples were collected at the infirmary of the Chantal Biya International Reference Center for the Prevention and Treatment of HIV/AIDS (CBIRC) and analyzed at the Microbiology and Immunology laboratory of the center. Venous blood was collected for viral load (VL) measurement (Abbott m2000rt), total CD4 and CD8 counts (BDFACSCalibur) and leukocyte immunophenotyping (Eight-color multiparametric BD FACSCanto II cytometer). FACS data was analyzed using Flowjo software v10.0.4.
Results: 60 participants were included: 50 HIV seropositive patients with mean age 44.8 ± 10.95 years and 10 HIV seronegative healthy control. In HIV patients, there was significant expansion in CD8 cells which was positively related with viremia. 19 patients had CD4 count greater than 500cells/ul among whom only 9 had CD4:CD8 ratio within the normal range (≥1). Naïve CD8 subset was associated with improved immunity having significant positive correlation with both %CD4 and CD4:CD8 ratio, the later stronger than the former. We found a significant negative correlation between effector memory and central memory subsets with both CD4:CD8 ratio and %CD4
Conclusion/Recommandation: 60 participants were included: 50 HIV seropositive patients with mean age 44.8 ± 10.95 years and 10 HIV seronegative healthy control. In HIV patients, there was significant expansion in CD8 cells which was positively related with viremia. 19 patients had CD4 counts greater than 500cells/ul among whom only 9 had CD4:CD8 ratio within the normal range. Naïve CD8 subset was associated with improved immunity, having significant positive correlation with %CD4 and the ratio, the later
Key Words: CD4:CD8 ratio, ART, subsets, correlation.