Plasma CD55 and HIV RNA load in newly diagnosed antiretroviral therapy-naive adults: an exploratory hospital-based case-control study
- 1Chinese PLA Center for Disease Control and Prevention
- 2Dezhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention
- 3State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, PLA Academy of Military Science
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.
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BibTeX
@article{li2026plasma,
title = {{Plasma CD55 and HIV RNA load in newly diagnosed antiretroviral therapy-naive adults: an exploratory hospital-based case-control study}},
author = {Lizhong Li and Zhe Hou and Hanping Li and Jian Wang and Wei Zhang and Jing Xie and Huan Li and Yuxin Feng and Ziwei Liu and Lin Li and Leili Jia},
journal = {Frontiers in Immunology},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3389/fimmu.2026.1981826},
url = {https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2026.1981826/full},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Plasma CD55 and HIV RNA load in newly diagnosed antiretroviral therapy-naive adults: an exploratory hospital-based case-control study
AU - Lizhong Li
AU - Zhe Hou
AU - Hanping Li
AU - Jian Wang
AU - Wei Zhang
AU - Jing Xie
AU - Huan Li
AU - Yuxin Feng
AU - Ziwei Liu
AU - Lin Li
AU - Leili Jia
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/20
JO - Frontiers in Immunology
DO - 10.3389/fimmu.2026.1981826
UR - https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2026.1981826/full
AB - 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.
SN - 1664-3224
ER -