The identification of inflammatory markers in HIV+ individuals on ART is fundamental since chronic ART-controlled HIV infection is linked to an increased inflammatory state. In this context, we assessed plasma levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, IL-8, and IL-12p70) of HIV+ individuals who initiated ART after immunosuppression (CD4⁺ T cell counts <350 cells/mm³). HIV+ individuals were stratified according to two extreme phenotypes: Slow Progressors (SPs; individuals with at least 8 years of infection before ART initiation) and Rapid Progressors (RPs; individuals who needed to initiate ART within 1–4 years after infection). A control group was composed of HIV-uninfected individuals. We found increased IL-8 levels (median: 5.13 pg/mL; SPs and RPs together) in HIV-infected individuals on ART as compared to controls (median: 3.2 pg/mL; p = 0.04), although no association with the progression profile (slow or rapid progressors) or CD4⁺ T cell counts at sampling was observed. This result indicates that IL-8 is a general marker of chronic inflammation in HIV+ individuals on ART, independently of CD4⁺ T cell counts at the beginning of the treatment or of the potential progression profile of the patient. In this sense, IL-8 may be considered a possible target for novel therapies focused on reducing inflammation in chronic HIV infection.

在ART上HIV +个体中炎性标志物的鉴定是至关重要的，因为慢性ART控制的HIV感染与炎症状态增加有关。在这种情况下，我们评估了在免疫抑制后开始进行ART（CD4 ⁺ T细胞计数<350细胞/ mm ³）的HIV +个体的血浆促炎细胞因子（IL-1β，IL-8和IL-12p70）的水平）。HIV +个体根据两种极端表型进行分层：慢进展者（SP；在开始ART之前至少感染了8年的个体）和快速进展者（RP；需要在感染后1-4年内开始ART的个体）。对照组由未感染艾滋病毒的人组成。我们发现，与对照组相比，HIV感染个体中IL-8水平升高（中位数：5.13 pg / mL； SP和RP在一起）（中位数：3.2 pg / mL；p  = 0.04），尽管与进展无关样本（缓慢或快速进展）或CD4 ⁺ T细胞计数。该结果表明，IL-8是ART上HIV +个体中慢性炎症的一般标志物，与CD4 ⁺无关T细胞在治疗开始时或患者的潜在病程中计数。从这个意义上讲，IL-8可能被视为针对减少慢性HIV感染中的炎症的新型疗法的可能靶标。