Beijing Tongren Eye Center, Beijing key Laboratory of Intraocular Tumor Diagnosis and Treatment, Beijing Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Key Lab, Medical Artificial Intelligence Research and Verification Laboratory of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
National Center for AIDS/STD Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China.
Infection. 2020 Dec;48(6):929-933. doi: 10.1007/s15010-020-01508-2. Epub 2020 Aug 26.
The tear, as an important bodily secretion, plays a crucial role in preventing infection and maintaining homeostasis of ocular surfaces. Although accumulating studies have reported on the HIV-1 viral load profile among varying bodily fluids and secretions, little was known concerning HIV-1 dynamics in tears. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to investigate the HIV-1 viral load in tears of HIV/AIDS patients and study factors influencing their tear viral load.
A cross-sectional study was conducted. 67 patients with a confirmed HIV-1 infection or AIDS were recruited from the Beijing You'an Hospital, China between April 2018 and September 2018. Socio-demographic information and laboratory test results were collected. At the same time, ophthalmic examinations were carried out and tear samples were tested.
Of 30 highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART)-naïve patients, 53.3% had detectable HIV-1 RNA in tears. Of 37 patients on HAART, HIV-1 RNA was undetectable in their tears, regardless of treatment duration and blood viral load. Tear viral load ranged from TND (target not detected) to 13,096 copies/mL. Viral load was lower in tears than in blood plasma (p < 0.001), and was significantly correlated with plasma viral load (Rho = 0.566, p < 0.001) and AIDS stage (Rho = 0.312, p = 0.01), but negatively correlated with CD4 T cell count, CD4 /CD8 T cell count, and duration of HIV infection (Rho = -0.450, Rho = - 0.464, Rho = - 0.565; p < 0.001).
HIV-1 RNA is present in tears of more than half of the HAART-naïve patients, whereas absent in tears of patients on HAART. Tear viral load is positively associated with plasma viral load while it is negatively correlated with CD4 cell count. This study provides novel insights into the area with limited understanding-HIV-1 viral load in tears.
泪液作为一种重要的体液分泌物，在预防感染和维持眼表面的内环境稳定方面起着至关重要的作用。尽管有越来越多的研究报告了不同体液和分泌物中 HIV-1 病毒载量的情况，但对于泪液中 HIV-1 的动态变化却知之甚少。因此，本研究旨在探讨 HIV/AIDS 患者泪液中的 HIV-1 病毒载量，并研究影响其泪液病毒载量的因素。
本研究采用横断面研究方法，于 2018 年 4 月至 2018 年 9 月期间在北京佑安医院招募了 67 例确诊为 HIV-1 感染或 AIDS 的患者。收集患者的社会人口学信息和实验室检查结果。同时进行眼科检查，并检测泪液样本。
在 30 例未接受高效抗逆转录病毒治疗（HAART）的患者中，有 53.3%的患者泪液中可检测到 HIV-1 RNA。在 37 例接受 HAART 的患者中，无论治疗时间和血液病毒载量如何，其泪液中均无法检测到 HIV-1 RNA。泪液病毒载量范围从 TND（未检出目标）到 13096 拷贝/ml。泪液中的病毒载量低于血浆（p<0.001），且与血浆病毒载量（Rho=0.566，p<0.001）和 AIDS 分期（Rho=0.312，p=0.01）显著相关，但与 CD4+T 细胞计数、CD4+/CD8+T 细胞计数和 HIV 感染持续时间呈负相关（Rho=-0.450，Rho=-0.464，Rho=-0.565；p<0.001）。
超过一半的未接受 HAART 的患者的泪液中存在 HIV-1 RNA，而接受 HAART 的患者的泪液中则不存在。泪液中的病毒载量与血浆病毒载量呈正相关，而与 CD4 细胞计数呈负相关。本研究为了解 HIV-1 病毒载量在泪液中的情况提供了新的见解。
