Biomarkers of cardiovascular disease and impaired neurocognition are increased in HIV-infected post-menopausal women.

<p>Levels of sVCAM-1, sICAM-1 and CXCL10 were measured by ELISA in the plasma of 15 HIV– and 26 HIV+ women. Comparisons between the two groups were performed using Student <i>t</i>-test. Significant P values are shown in bold.</p

Soluble markers of immune activation and microbial translocation in HIV– and HIV+ post-menopausal women.

<p>Circulating levels of sCD14, sCD163 and sCD25 were measured in the plasma of 27 HIV+ post- women and 15 HIV– controls by ELISA. Plasma levels of cytokines were measured using a customized MILLIPLEX™ Cytokine Human Ultrasensitive magnetic bead panel (EMD Millipore). LPS levels were measured in plasma samples by the use of the Limulus amebocyte lysate chromogenic endpoint assay, as described in the Methods. Statistical differences between groups were analyzed by Student <i>t</i>-test. P values <0.05 are shown in bold.</p

Biomarkers of CVD and cognitive impairment correlate with the status of immune activation and CD4 T cell count.

<p>Correlation between the circulating levels of sVCAM-1, sICAM-1 and CXCL10 and those of plasma sCD25 (<b>A</b>), sCD14 (<b>B</b>), TNFα (<b>C</b>) and CD4 cell count (<b>D</b>). In each graph, the continuous line indicates the correlation between the two variables for all donors (HIV– and HIV+), while the dashed line shows the correlation between the two variables when only the HIV+ donors were taken into account. P values <0.05 are shown in bold.</p

Elevated levels of microbial products in the bloodstream of HIV+ post-menopausal women are associated with the extent of immune activation.

<p>Plasma levels of LPS were measured by the use of the Limulus amebocyte lysate chromogenic endpoint assay. Expression of activation (CD38, HLA-DR) and exhaustion (PD-1) markers was evaluated by flow cytometry in live CD4 and CD8 T cells. Circulating levels of sCD14 and sCD163 were measured by ELISA. (<b>A–D</b>) Graphs show the correlation between plasma LPS levels and: frequency of activated (<b>A</b>) and exhausted (<b>B</b>) CD8 T cells, and of activated (<b>C</b>) and exhausted (<b>D</b>) CD4 T cells. Correlations were established for 11 HIV– and 22 HIV+ women (continuous lines), and for the HIV+ women alone (dashed lines). (<b>E, F</b>) Graphs depict the correlation between plasma levels of LPS and those of sCD14 (<b>E</b>) or sCD163 (<b>F</b>) of 42 women (15 HIV–, open dots, and 27 HIV+, filled dots). Correlation between the two variables is indicated by the continuous line. Dashed line shows the correlation between the two variables when only the HIV+ subjects were taken into account. Significant P values are shown in bold.</p