Persistent inflammatory markers existing with HIV-1 reservoirs in antiretroviral therapy treated HIV-1 individuals
Cytokine, 2026
Shi Y., Ding C., Zhang Z., Zhang T., Liu J., Huang L., Zhang X., Liang R., Fang Q., Shuai C., Zhang J., Dai S., He H., Gao Y., Wu J.
| Disease area | Application area | Sample type | Products |
|---|---|---|---|
Infectious Diseases | Pathophysiology | Plasma |  Olink Target 96 |
Abstract
Despite successful viral suppression with antiretroviral therapy, individuals infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1(HIV-1) develop chronic inflammation, which may be related to immune activation due to the persistence of the viral reservoir. However, the mechanisms linking HIV-1 reservoirs to inflammation are not fully understood. Here, we comprehensively analyzed 92 inflammation-related proteins (IRPs) in HIV-1-infected individuals using Olink proteomics, including 16 longitudinal pre- and post-treatment participants, 32 long-term treatments (more than 8 years), and age-matched healthy controls. We identified 16 IRPs whose expression remained elevated after treatment regardless of treatment duration, and finally flow validation revealed that MCP-2, CD8A, and TNFRSF9 were significantly positively correlated with HIV-1 DNA, independently of age and sex, whereas CXCL11 was significantly negatively correlated with immune recovery in HIV-1 individuals. The results indicated that the persistence of HIV-1 reservoirs is closely associated with a unique inflammatory environment, which providing novel insights into HIV-1 reservoirs and inflammation.