Work

Plasma CD55 and HIV RNA load in newly diagnosed antiretroviral therapy-naive adults: an exploratory hospital-based case-control study

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Background Plasma complement regulation during untreated HIV infection remains incompletely characterized. We examined complement markers in newly diagnosed, antiretroviral therapy (ART)-naive adults and their relationships with HIV RNA load. Methods Archived EDTA plasma from 132 HIV-positive adults and 59 HIV-negative controls was analyzed for eight complement markers by ELISA/EIA. Case-control models were adjusted for age and sex, with false discovery rate control across eight markers. Within HIV-positive participants, analyses compared four viral-load categories and modeled log10 HIV RNA load with adjustment for age, sex, and CD4+ T-cell count. Results All eight markers had higher unadjusted concentrations in HIV-positive participants than in controls. Seven case-control associations remained significant after adjustment and false discovery rate correction; CD59 did not. CD55 differed across viral-load categories (<10³, 10³ to <10 4 , 10 4 to <10 5 , and ≥10 5 copies/mL), with higher concentrations in the highest than the lowest category. Higher HIV RNA load was associated with higher Ba and properdin (complement factor P, CFP) concentrations after eight-marker correction. For CD55, β was 0.067 (95% CI 0.008 to 0.125; nominal P = 0.0260). The CD55 association did not remain significant after correction across eight markers (q=0.0693). Conclusion Untreated HIV infection was accompanied by differences in plasma complement activation fragments and regulatory proteins. The CD55–HIV RNA load association was not supported consistently across analyses and requires independent validation.

Source: Frontiers in Immunology

DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2026.1981826