Daijiworld Media Network - Switzerland
Switzerland, Sep 16: Untreated HIV infection may accelerate biological aging by an average of nearly six years, according to a study that analysed more than 17 years of longitudinal data from the Swiss HIV Cohort Study.
Researchers found that uncontrolled HIV viremia was associated with an average of 5.99 years of accelerated biological senescence. The study also examined an independent group of 80 individuals using paired plasma samples collected before and during antiretroviral therapy.
The investigators developed a specialised proteomic aging clock based on the levels of 416 proteins to track biological aging associated with HIV infection. Their findings showed that the accelerated aging process began to reverse soon after effective antiretroviral therapy was initiated.
A significant slowing of proteomic aging was observed within a median of 1.55 years after treatment began. Statistical models projected that biological aging could converge towards the individual's chronological baseline after approximately 16.4 years of sustained treatment.
The researchers found that the changes in proteomic aging were particularly associated with activation of the complement system, coagulation pathways and xenobiotic metabolism. These biological pathways are linked to inflammation, vascular changes and disturbances in blood clotting.
The study also found that plasma proteins could detect changes associated with acute inflammation more rapidly than conventional epigenetic aging clocks. Proteomic age increased substantially during untreated HIV infection but declined sharply after viral suppression.
Importantly, the reversal of proteomic aging appeared to be primarily linked to suppression of the HIV viral load rather than conventional measures of immune-cell recovery.
Causal mediation analysis found that absolute CD4+ T-cell counts and CD4-to-CD8 ratios did not significantly explain the reduction in biological age following treatment.
The findings suggest that controlling HIV replication may play a central role in reversing some of the biological processes associated with premature aging. The researchers said the results highlight the importance of timely antiretroviral treatment and sustained viral suppression in reducing long-term systemic and vascular effects of HIV infection.