Clinical and immunological characteristic of natural course at the early stages of HIV infection

Abstract

An early-stage infection induces the most powerful reactions of immune system. 137 clinical histories of patients with HIV infection, and HCV/HIV-infected at the early stages of HIV infection were subjected to analysis. Patients and methods: a group of 45 patients at early terms of HIV infection included 25 cases of HCV/HIV-infected patients (first group), and 20 cases with HIV mono-infection (second group). Duration of infection was less than 1 year (with positive ELISA test), with mean terms of HIV immunoblot positivity of 5.5±0.6 months. For comparative analysis, the natural course group was examined, i.e., 43 patients with combined HCV/HIV infection (third group), and 49, with HIV monoinfection (fourth group) with a duration of HIV infection for 4.4±0.21 years. The group of healthy controls included 52 persons. We aimed to perform a comparative evaluation of clinical course and immunological features from the early stages of infection in the patients with combined HCV/HIV and HIV infection. Results: at early stages of infection, clinical pattern in HCV/HIV-infected patients was dominated by purulent-inflammatory, fungal infections and secondary diseases, along with more pronounced inhibition of cellular immunity and increased viral load of RNA HIV, as compared to data on HIV-infected patients.

Keywords

• hiv infection
• hcv-infection
• early stages
• hcv/hiv-coinfection
• cd4⁺ lymphocytes
• cd8⁺ lymphocytes