title: Sustained high levels of serum interferon-γ during HIV-1 infection: a specific trend different from other cytokines.
abstract: The expression levels of various cytokines increase with the progression of HIV-1 infection. However, the effects of antiretroviral therapy (ART) on serum cytokine levels have not been fully determined. In this study we measured serum cytokine levels of 35 HIV-1-infected Japanese adults. We first performed a cross-sectional study and observed that TNF-α, IL-6, IL-10, IL-18, and IL-7 levels all showed significant increases in those with advanced disease, and that this had a significant negative correlation with the CD4 cell count. However, IFN-γ levels did not show this relationship. A longitudinal study in 18 HIV-1-infected patients with a CD4 cell count <350/μL revealed that the introduction of ART reduced cytokine levels. Significant reductions of IL-7, IL-10, IFN-γ, and IL-18 levels were observed on days 30, 60, 90, and 90 after the initiation of ART, respectively. These results indicate a discrepancy between cross-sectional and longitudinal studies of serum levels of IFN-γ. To clarify this, we investigated serum IFN-γ levels in each patient. In 5 of the 15 patients IFN-γ levels did not decrease, even after ART initiation, and remained at 5 pg/mL or higher on day 120 after ART initiation. Higher IFN-γ levels (>5 pg/mL) were also observed in 2 of 7 asymptomatic patients, and 2 of 11 patients who underwent ART for 1 year or longer. These data demonstrate that IFN-γ levels in some patients increased and remained high even after the initiation of ART, which was a specific observation different from those of the other cytokines.
authors.affiliation: AIDS Medical Center, Osaka National Hospital, National Hospital Organization, Osaka City, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Dai
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: Tomoko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Uehira
authors.forename: Hitoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yonemoto
authors.forename: Hiroki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bando
authors.forename: Yoshihiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ogawa
authors.forename: Keishiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yajima
authors.forename: Tomohiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Taniguchi
authors.forename: Daisuke
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kasai
authors.forename: Yasuharu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nishida
authors.forename: Takuma
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shirasaka
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D023241:Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active; D044466:Asian People; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000097:blood*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019562:Viral Load
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D007371:Interferon-gamma