Effects of Anti-Retroviral Therapy on Baseline Serum Interleukin-18 levels in HIV-I Infected Patients Relative to Viral Suppression and CD4+ Gain: a prospective pilot study

BackgroundIn HIV infection, dysregulation of cytokines, including interleukin 18 (IL-18), has been linked to poor clinical outcomes in studies mainly conducted in resource-rich countries. This phenomenon has not been well-studied in resource-limited settings where outcomes could be confounded by exposure to endemic infections and genetic factors.ObjectivesTherefore, the influence of immunological and virological status of HIV-infected, antiretroviral therapy (ART)-naïve patients on serum IL-18 levels at baseline (pretreatment) and 24 weeks following initiation of combination ART (cART24) in a resource-limited setting was investigated.MethodsUsing the cross-sectional and longitudinal mixed method design, a total of Forty-four (44) newly diagnosed consenting HIV patients were consecutively recruited during routine clinic visits at the Nasara Treatment & Care Centre of the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH), Zaria, Nigeria between December 2016 to January 2018, and followed up for 24 weeks on initiation of first-line cART.ResultsSerum IL-18 concentrations, CD4+ T-cell counts (CD4+) counts, and HIV1 RNA levels were determined at baseline and cART24. There was little CD4+ count gain in both