Sex-related differences in markers of immune activation in virologically suppressed HIV-infected patients

OBJECTIVES: Gender-specific studies remain a neglected area of biomedical research. Recent reports have emphasized that sex-related biological factors may affect disease progression during HIV-1 infection. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of sex on the levels of immune activation in the gut and in peripheral blood of individuals with HIV treated with fully suppressive antiretroviral therapy (ART). METHODS: Thirty individuals with HIV undergoing long-term fully suppressive ART were enrolled in this study. Lamina propria lymphocytes (LPL) and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated from gut biopsies collected by pancolonoscopy and peripheral blood samples. The expression of markers of immune activation was evaluated by multi-parametric flow cytometry. This is a sub analysis of ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02276326 RESULTS: We observed differences in the levels of immune activation in the gut and in PBMCs, with values higher in the gut compartment compared to PBMCs. In addition, we found that the mean value of the levels of immune activation was higher in the women than in the men. Finally, we measured the markers of immune activation by mean relative difference (MRD) and confirmed the higher value in the women. CONCLUSION: A significant sex-related difference in the level of immune activation was observed in a population of individuals with HIV on long-term ART. A more complete characterization of these differences may support the introduction of sex-specific approaches in the clinical management of individuals with HIV.