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Clinical and Vaccine Immunology, January 2008, p. 154-158, Vol. 15, No. 1
1071-412X/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/CVI.00193-07
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Usefulness of Alternate Prognostic Serum and Plasma Markers for Antiretroviral Therapy for Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Infection{triangledown}

R. Kannangai,1* A. J. Kandathil,1 D. L. Ebenezer,1 E. Mathai,2 A. J. Prakash,2 O. C. Abraham,3 T. D. Sudarsanam,3 S. A. Pulimood,4 R. Selvakumar,5 V. Job,5 and G. Sridharan1

Departments of Clinical Virology,1 Clinical Microbiology,2 Internal Medicine,3 Dermatology,4 Clinical Biochemistry, Christian Medical College, Vellore, India 6320045

Received 9 May 2007/ Returned for modification 16 August 2007/ Accepted 6 November 2007

In developing countries, the usability of peripheral blood constituents that are low-cost alternatives to CD4-positive (CD4+) T-cell and human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) RNA estimation should be evaluated as prognostic markers. The aim of our study was to investigate the use of plasma levels of dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS), albumin, and C-reactive protein (CRP) as alternate prognostic markers for antiretroviral treatment (ART) response in place of HIV-1 load measurements. Paired blood samples were collected from 30 HIV-infected individuals before and after initiation of ART, 13 HIV-infected individuals before and after completion of antituberculosis therapy (ATT), and 10 HIV-infected individuals not on either ATT or ART. Because of the nonavailability of samples, the CRP estimation was done for samples from only 19, 9, and 8 individuals in groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively. The measurements of all three markers, i.e., DHEAS, albumin, and CRP, were carried out with commercial assays. The differences in the albumin levels before and after ART or ATT were significant (P < 0.05), while the differences in DHEAS and CRP levels were not significant (P > 0.05). When levels of DHEAS among the individuals who were followed up were analyzed, 13 (44.8%) in the ART group and 9 (69%) in the ATT group showed an increase following treatment. Prior to treatment of HIV-infected individuals, there was a significant positive correlation of CD4+ T-cell counts and a negative correlation of viral load with albumin and DHEAS levels (P < 0.01). Among the three plasma markers we tested, plasma albumin and, to some extent, DHEAS show promise as prognostic markers in monitoring HIV infection.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Clinical Virology, Christian Medical College, Vellore, India 632004. Phone: 91 (416) 2282070. Fax: 91 (416) 2232035. E-mail: rajeshkannangai{at}hotmail.com

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 14 November 2007.

Clinical and Vaccine Immunology, January 2008, p. 154-158, Vol. 15, No. 1
1071-412X/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/CVI.00193-07
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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