Dysregulation of the Immune System in HIV/HCV-Coinfected Patients According to Liver Stiffness Status

Background: Advanced cirrhosis is related to alterations in immunity. We aimed to evaluate the levels of peripheral CD4⁺ T cells (Tregs) and plasma cytokine in patients coinfected with human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis C virus (HIV/HCV) according to liver fibrosis stages [evaluated as liver stiffness measure (LSM)] and their linear relationship.

Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study on 238 HIV/HCV-coinfected patients (119 had <12.5 kPa, 73 had 12.5⁻25 kPa, and 46 had >25 kPa). Peripheral T-cell subsets were phenotyped by flow cytometry, plasma biomarkers were assessed by multiplex immunoassays, and LSM was assessed by transient elastography. Results We found HIV/HCV-coinfected patients had higher values of CD4⁺ Tregs ( < 0.001), memory Tregs ( ≤ 0.001), and plasma cytokine levels [IFN-γ ( ≤ 0.05) and IL-10 ( ≤ 0.01)] compared with healthy donors and HIV-monoinfected patients. In the multivariate analysis, higher LSM values were associated with reduced levels of IL-10 (adjusted arithmetic mean ratio (aAMR) = 0.83; = 0.019), IL-2 (aAMR = 0.78; = 0.017), TNF-α (aAMR = 0.67; < 0.001), and IL-17A (aAMR = 0.75; = 0.006). When we focus on HIV/HCV-coinfected patients analyzed by LSM strata, patients with ≥25 kPa had lower values of IL-2 (aAMR = 0.66; = 0.021), TNF-α (aAMR = 0.565; = 0.003), and IL-17A (aAMR = 0.58; = 0.003) than patients with <12.5 kPa.

Conclusion: HIV/HCV-coinfected patients showed an immunosuppressive profile compared to healthy controls and HIV-monoinfected patients. Additionally, HIV/HCV-coinfected patients with advanced cirrhosis (LSM ≥ 25 kPa) had the lowest plasma values of cytokines related to Th1 (IL-2 and TNF-α) and Th17 (IL-17A) response.