Effect of highly-active antiretroviral therapy on neuroendocrine regulation of immunogenesis in HIV-infected children
Authors: Bakhmetyev B. A. , Bocharov G. A. , Zverev S. Ya. , Kalashnikova N. S. 
Published: September 2024

Comparative assay has been made against the parameters of the immune and endocrine systems in 84 HIV-infected children born from HIV-infected mothers. One group of analyzed children (36 patients) did not receive highly-active antiretroviral therapy. Another group (48 patients) received different variants of highly-active antiretroviral therapy. Children aged from 1 to 182 months were examined. Venous blood samples taken from young patients were used to determine leukocyte blood composition considering the relative (%) and absolute number of blood cell counts. Hormone concentration was determined concurrently. CD-molecule expression by mononuclear cells was registered using flow cytofluorimeter. Plasma viral load in HIV-infected children was quantitatively detected with RT-PCR. Statistically significant lowering in the levels of free thyroxin, cortisol and progesterone was observed in children against a background of highly-active antiretroviral therapy as compared to those without HAART use. Correlation assay between the hormone level and the immunological parameters in children not receiving the antiretroviral preparations revealed marked positive correlations among the somatotropic hormone level and CD3+, CD4+ and CD8+ absolute numbers. Similar positive correlation with absolute T-subset number was found against free T4. The progesterone level also positively correlated with relative CD3+ and CD8+ numbers and showed negative correlation with absolute CD4+ amount. There is another positive correlation with relative T-subset number against the dehydroepiandrosterone level in the group of children without antiretroviral preparation therapy. As for HIV-infected group of children, against a background of highly-active antiretroviral therapy, the results of correlation assay between the hormone concentrations and cell parameters were found to significantly vary. There were observed positive correlations between the levels of cortisol and CD3+ (%), cortisol and CD8+ (%), estradiol and CD4/CD8, progesterone and absolute CD8+ number. As with children not receiving the antiretroviral preparations marked positive relation was revealed between the concentration of free thyroxin and absolute values of CD4+. Negative correlations were recorded between the estradiol level and the relative CD3+ numbers. Against a background of applying the antiretroviral preparations the correlation assay conducted between the viral RNA concentration (lg of copy number of mRNA/ml) and analyzed endocrinological parameters was found to have marked positive correlation with HIV concentration demonstrated by estradiol and testosterone. During the antiretroviral therapy, however, the negative correlation between the thyrotropin level and lg concentration of viral RNA was observed. Analytical results of correlation among the viral RNA concentration (lg copy number of mRNA/ml) and analyzed immunological parameters in this group of children evidence for specific ‘normalization’ due to highly-active antiretroviral therapy as the only positive correlation with virus concentration was detected for CD4+T subsets.
Therefore, the alteration in endocrine system state in children born from HIV-infected mothers could be of great significance while monitoring the systemic regulation of the immunogenesis.