Aim: To assess the relationship among plasma TNF-a and cICAM-1 levels and plasma viral load (VL) in HIV-infected children and to compare these values with those of healthy non-HIV infected children.
Patients and methods: We studied 44 HIV-infected children and 38 non-HIV-infected children. The VL was quantified using standard molecular assay. CD4 and CD8 lymphocyte subpopulations were determined by flow cytometry. TNF-a and cICAM-1 were quantified using commercially available specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).
Results: Levels of TNF-a and cICAM-1 were higher in HIV-infected children than in non-HIV infected children. HIV-infected children with VL > 50000 copies/ml had higher levels of TNF-a (12.83; 95% CI: 24.71 to 0.95 pg/ml) and cICAM-1 (248.94; 95% CI: 419.01 to 78.84 ng/ml) than HIV-infected children with VL < 50000 copies/ml. Interestingly, we found an increase of 6.57 pg/ml of TNF-a and 119.97 ng/ml of cICAM-1 levels for each log10 of VL.
Conclusions: HIV-infected children had higher levels of TNF-a and cICAM-1 than healthy controls. Our data indicate a positive correlation among plasma TNF-a and cICAM-1 and VL levels.