Differences in HIV-2 plasma viral load and immune activation in HIV-1 and HIV-2 dually infected persons and those infected with HIV-2 only in Abidjan, Côte D'Ivoire.

Objective: To determine whether blood plasma levels of HIV-2 RNA viral loads and immune activation markers differ between persons infected with HIV-2 only and those dually infected with HIV-1 and HIV-2. Methods: Between September 1996 and February 2000 we collected analyzed and compared levels of HIV-2 RNA in plasma and immune activation markers among 52 persons infected with HIV-2 alone and 75 with confirmed dual infection. We also compared viral load and immune activation in patients who were infected with HIV-1 only and those who were dually infected. Results: When we conducted a CD4 T-cell count-stratified multivariate analysis of HIV-2 viral load controlling for difference in CD4 T-cell counts age and sex: at 500 X 10 (6)/l HIV-2 viral load was 0.9 log10 copies/ml higher in dually infected patients (P < 0.0001). Dually infected persons with undetectable HIV-2 viral loads had significantly higher median levels of CD8 T cells expressing CD38 (P < 0.001) and HLA-DR (P = 0.01) than HIV-2 only infected patients. Conclusion: These results suggest that in dual infection the level of HIV-2 replication depends on the immune status of the patients with HIV-1 out-replicating HIV-2 as disease progress. (authors)