Association between HIV genotype, viral load and disease progression in a cohort of Thai men who have sex with men with estimated dates of HIV infection

BACKGROUND: Differences between HIV genotypes may affect HIV disease progression. We examined infecting HIV genotypes and their association with disease progression in a cohort of men who have sex with men with incident HIV infection in Bangkok, Thailand. METHODS: We characterized the viral genotype of 189 new HIV infections among MSM identified between 2006–2014 using hybridization and sequencing. Plasma viral load (PVL) was determined by PCR, and CD4+ T-cell counts were measured by flow cytometry. We used Generalized Estimating Equations to examine factors associated with changes in CD4+ T-cell counts. Factors associated with immunologic failure were analyzed using Cox proportional hazard models. RESULTS: Among 189 MSM, 84% were infected with CRF01_AE, 11% with recombinant B/CRF01_AE and 5% with subtype B. CD4+ T-cell decline rates were 68, 65, and 46 cells/μL/year for CRF01_AE, recombinants, and subtype B, respectively, and were not significantly different between HIV subtypes. CD4+ T-cell decline rate was significantly associated with baseline PVL and CD4+ T-cell counts (p <0.001). Progression to immunologic failure was associated with baseline CD4+ T-cell ≤ 500 cells/μL (AHR 1.97; 95% CI 1.14–3.40, p = 0.015) and PVL > 50,000 copies/ml (AHR 2.03; 1.14–3.63, p = 0.017). There was no difference in time to immunologic failure between HIV subtypes. CONCLUSION: Among HIV-infected Thai MSM, low baseline CD4+ T-cell and high PVL are associated with rapid progression. In this cohort, no significant difference in CD4+ T-cell decline rate or time to immunologic failure was seen between CRF01_AE and other infecting HIV subtypes.