Semen virome of men with HIV on or off anti-retroviral treatment

OBJECTIVES:Improving immune status of people living with HIV through anti-retroviral therapy (ART) may also reduce shedding of other viruses in semen. We characterized the seminal fluid virome of men with HIV and tested potential associations between viruses present and CD4 T cell count, HIV viremia, and anti-retroviral therapy (ART) status. DESIGN AND METHODS:Metagenomics was used to enrich and sequence viral nucleic acids from the seminal fluid of 55 semen samples from 42 men living with HIV from San Francisco with a median age of 33 (IQR, 28.7-45) and median CD4 T cell counts of 837 cells/ul (IQR, 258–1571 cells/ul). All samples were collected between 2005 and 2015, and ART status was ascertained from medical records. RESULTS:Anelloviruses, cytomegalovirus (CMV), and multiple genotypes of human papillomaviruses were detected. Participants shed from 0 to 4 distinct human viruses. Longitudinally collected seminal fluid samples showed changes in the viruses shed. Viruses were more frequently shed by individuals with detectable HIV viremia, or who were not on ART (43.7% vs 15.4%, p = 0.042, and 42.8% vs 17.8%, p = 0.082 respectively). Only a trend was seen for increased shedding by individuals with CD4 T cell count