HIV-Infected Individuals with Low CD4/CD8 Ratio despite Effective Antiretroviral Therapy Exhibit Altered T Cell Subsets, Heightened CD8+ T Cell Activation, and Increased Risk of Non-AIDS Morbidity and Mortality

Abstract

A low CD4/CD8 ratio in elderly HIV-uninfected adults is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. A subset of HIV-infected adults receiving effective antiretroviral therapy (ART) fails to normalize this ratio, even after they achieve normal CD4+ T cell counts. The immunologic and clinical characteristics of this clinical phenotype remain undefined. Using data from four distinct clinical cohorts and three clinical trials, we show that a low CD4/CD8 ratio in HIV-infected adults during otherwise effective ART (after CD4 count recovery above 500 cells/mm ³) is associated with a number of immunological abnormalities, including a skewed T cell phenotype from naïve toward terminally differentiated CD8+ T cells, higher levels of CD8+ T cell activation (HLADR+CD38+) and senescence (CD28− and CD57+CD28−), and higher kynurenine/tryptophan ratio. Changes in the peripheral CD4/CD8 ratio are also reflective of changes in gut mucosa, but not in lymph nodes. In a longitudinal study, individuals who initiated ART within six months of infection had greater CD4/CD8 ratio increase compared to later initiators (>2 years). After controlling for age, gender, ART duration, nadir and CD4 count, the CD4/CD8 ratio predicted increased risk of morbidity and mortality. Hence, a persistently low CD4/CD8 ratio during otherwise effective ART is associated with increased innate and adaptive immune activation, an immunosenescent phenotype, and higher risk of morbidity/mortality. This ratio may prove useful in monitoring response to ART and could identify a unique subset of individuals needed of novel therapeutic interventions.

Author Summary

The CD4/CD8 ratio, a hallmark of the collection of T cell defects related to aging –“immunosenescence”- and a predictor of mortality in the general population, often fails to normalize in an important proportion of HIV-infected individuals with adequate CD4+ T cell recovery after ART initiation. However, the immunological and clinical characteristics of this clinical phenotype have not been elucidated. Herein we show that during treated HIV infection, expansion of CD8+ T cells, reflected as a low CD4/CD8 ratio, identifies a subgroup of individuals with a number of immunological abnormalities and a poor prognosis. These subjects exhibit increased innate and adaptive immune activation, an immunosenescent phenotype, CD4+ and CD8+ imbalance in the gut mucosa and higher risk of morbidity and mortality. In contrast, those who normalize the CD4/CD8 ratio have traits of a healthy immune system. We observed that early ART initiation might contribute to more rapid and robust CD4/CD8 ratio normalization compared to later initiation. Hence, the CD4/CD8 ratio might help to further discriminate the risk of disease progression of successfully treated HIV-infected individuals, and a successful response to ART may require both normalization of the peripheral CD4+ T cell count and the ratio of CD4+ to CD8+ T cell counts.