Evaluation of relationship between the level of inflammatory cytokines Interleukin-10 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha with virologic response to treatment in patients with HIV

Despite the considerable advances in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) treatment and management, finding the cure for this disease has been hindered by emerging challenges such as virus resistance and treatment failures. The purpose of this study is to compare the cytokine profiles of patients with successful treatment and patients with unsuccessful treatment to gain a better understanding of treatment failure mechanisms.

Sixty-nine human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive patients who were referred to the west health center of Tehran between September 2018 and March 2021 were included in this study. Blood CD4+ cell count and viral load was measured using the flow cytometry and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) methods respectively. Based on the viral load test results patients were divided into successful treatment (viral load<200 copies/ml, n=36) and unsuccessful treatment (viral load>200 copies/ml, n=33) groups. Subsequently, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) serum levels were measured using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method.

 Analysis of data revealed that there was no difference in demographic data, medical history and clinical laboratory test results between the study groups. Elisa test results showed that serum TNF-α levels were significantly higher in the unsuccessful treatment group compared to the successful treatment group (10.43±10.17 vs 5.37±5.25, P=0.01) but no differences were observed in IL-10 levels between the study groups. Furthermore, age and sex-adjusted linear regression models showed that non-nucleoside reverse-transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTI)-based treatment regimen is positively associated with serum IL-10 levels in patients with unsuccessful treatment (B coefficient 10.88 (95% CI: 1.32-20.45), P=0.03). Moreover, based on the results of the linear regression models, no relationship between HIV viral load and serum IL-10 and TNF-α level was observed.

Results of this study showcased the importance of TNF-α in disease progression and treatment failure. Further future studies regarding this relationship can provide vital information in AIDS treatment research.