Immune restoration disease after the treatment of immunodeficient HIV-infected patients with highly active antiretroviral therapy.

Background: To determine if infectious disease events in HIV-infected patients treated with highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) are a consequence of the restoration of pathogen-specific immune responses, a single-centre retrospective study of all HIV-infected patients commencing HAART prior to 1 July 1997 was undertaken to determine the incidence, characteristics and time of onset of disease episodes in HAART responders (decrease in plasma HIV RNA of > 1 log10 copies/mL).

Methods: Baseline and post-therapy changes in CD4 T-cell counts and HIV RNA were compared in patients with and without disease and delayed-type hypersensitivity responses to mycobacterial antigens were measured in selected patients.

Results: Thirty-three of 132 HAART responders (25%) exhibited one or more disease episodes after HAART, related to a pre-existent or subclinical infection by an opportunistic pathogen. Disease episodes were most often related to infections by mycobacteria or herpesviruses but hepatitis C virus (HCV), molluscum contagiosum virus and human papilloma virus were also implicated. They were most common in patients with a baseline CD4 T-cell count of < 50/uL and occurred most often during the first 2 months of therapy and when CD4 T-cell counts were increasing. Mycobacteria- and HCV-related diseases were associated with restoration of pathogen-specific immune responses.

Conclusions: We conclude that improved immune function in immunodeficient patients treated with HAART may restore pathogen-specific immune responses and cause inflammation in tissues infected by those pathogens.