title: Impact of earlier HAART initiation on the immune status and clinical course of treated patients on the basis of cohort data of the German Competence Network for HIV/AIDS.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Hitherto, studies on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) initiation have shown partly inconsistent results. Our study investigated the clinical course and course of immune status after HAART initiation at CD4-cell-count/μl of treated patients between 250 and 349 (group 1), compared to 350-449 (group 2), on the basis of the cohort of the Competence Network for HIV/AIDS (KompNet cohort).
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients had to be HAART-naïve. Medication had to start at the earliest in 1996, being at least triple combination therapy. The primary endpoints of death, first AIDS-defining illness and first drop of CD4-cell-count/μl below 200 were evaluated as censored event times between the initiation of HAART (t (0)) and the date of the first event/date of last observation. Probabilities of event-free intervals since t (0) were calculated by Kaplan-Meier estimation, compared by logrank tests. The results were adjusted for confounders using Cox regression. Additionally, incidences were estimated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 822 patients met the inclusion criteria (group 1: 526, group 2: 296), covering 4,133 patient years (py) overall. In group 1, 0.64 death cases/100 py were found, with the corresponding vale being 0.17 in group 2. In group 1, 1.38 AIDS-defining events/100 py occurred, whereas it was 0.78 in group 2. In group 1, 2.64 events of first drop of CD4-cell-count/μl below 200 occurred per 100 py, compared to 0.77 in group 2. Kaplan-Meier estimations showed borderline significant differences regarding death (p = 0.063), no differences regarding first AIDS-defining illness (p = 0.148) and distinct differences regarding the first drop of CD4-cell-count/μl below 200 (p = 0.0004).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results gave a strong hint for a therapy initiation at higher CD4-cell-count/μl regarding the outcome of death in treated patients. A distinct benefit was shown regarding the first decline of CD4-cell-count/μl below 200.
authors.affiliation: Ifi-Institute, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Plettenberg
authors.forename: N H
authors.initials: NH
authors.lastname: Brockmeyer
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Haastert
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Michalik
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dupke
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schewe
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rausch
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hower
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ulmer
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Wolf
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lorenzen
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Arendt
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jansen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D023241:Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active / Q000379:methods*; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents