Most women living with HIV achieved an immunologic response after two years of initiating antiretroviral therapy, according to a study from researchers in Sweden.

 

A higher baseline HIV viral load increased the odds of an immunologic response in women living with HIV, but this association diminished among those who acquired HIV through intravenous drug use.

 

Researchers conducted a register-based cohort study to determine the prevalence and factors associated with immunologic response in women living with HIV in Sweden.

 

They analysed 841 women with viral suppression (mean age, 37 years; baseline CD4 T-cell count, < 500 cells/μL) diagnosed with HIV after 2000.

 

The primary outcome was an immunologic response two years after initiating antiretroviral therapy among those who achieved sustained viral suppression within 6 months of treatment initiation

 

Among the women studied, 90% (95% CI, 0.88-0.92) achieved an immunologic response after 2 years of follow-up.

 

Having a baseline HIV viral load of ≥ 100,000 copies/mL increased the likelihood of achieving immunologic response (adjusted odds ratio, 1.81; 95% CI, 0.96-3.41), except in women who acquired HIV through intravenous drug use.

 

No significant associations were found between immunologic response and baseline CD4 count, antiretroviral therapy experience, or age.

 

The study was led by Josefin Nilsson, Unit of Infectious Diseases and Dermatology, Department of Medicine, Huddinge, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. It was published in HIV Medicine.