IL 7 RA polymorphisms predict the CD 4+ recovery in HIV patients on cART

Background The IL 7 RA polymorphisms have recently been associated with CD 4+ T‐cell decline in untreated HIV ‐infected subjects and CD 4+ T‐cell recovery in patients on combination antiretroviral therapy ( cART ). The aim of this study was to evaluate whether IL 7 RA polymorphisms are associated with CD 4+ T‐cell recovery in HIV ‐infected patients on long‐term cART . Study design We performed a retrospective study in 151 naïve cART patients with severe immunodeficiency ( CD 4+ counts ≤200 cells/mm 3 ). IL 7 RA polymorphisms' genotyping was performed using Sequenom's Mass ARRAY platform. The outcome variable was the time to achieve the first value of CD 4+ count ≥500 cells/mm 3 during the follow‐up. Results Two different trends of CD 4+ T‐cell recovery were found in Kaplan–Meier analysis. During the first 48 months, 60 of 151 (39·7%) of the patients reached CD 4+ T‐cell values ≥500 cells/mm 3 , and no differences were observed between IL 7 RA genotypes. After the first 48 months of follow‐up, 27 of 151 (17·8%) of the patients reached CD 4+ T‐cell values ≥500 cells/mm 3 , with a different pattern of CD 4+ recovery depending on IL 7 RA genotype. Patients with rs10491434 TT genotype and rs6897932 TT genotype were more likely of achieving CD 4+ value ≥500 cells/mm 3 than patients with rs10491434 CT / CC genotype (adjusted hazard ratio ( aHR ) = 3·59; P  = 0·005) and patients with rs6897932 CC / CT genotype ( aHR  = 11·7; P  < 0·001). Conclusions The IL 7 RA polymorphisms seem to be associated with CD 4+ T‐cell recovery in HIV ‐infected patients who started cART with severe immunodeficiency, in the second phase of CD 4+ T‐cell recovery after long‐term cART .