Serum IgG antibodies to human herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6) do not predict the progression of HIV disease to AIDS

Objectives: To evaluate if different levels of human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) antibodies can predict HIV disease progression. Design: Longitudinal study of individuals with a documented date of HIV seroconversion. Setting: Clini cal centers located throughout Italy. Patients: Individuals who serconverte d for HIV between 1983 and 1995 in Italy. Methods: Sera were tested for IgG antibodies to HHV-6 using a commercial enzyme immunoassay, A serum sample with an optical density (OD) greater than or equal to 242 (i.e. the mean va lue of 10 negative controls + 4 x standard deviation) was considered as HHV -6 positive; the progression of HIV disease was evaluated estimating the re lative hazards (RH) of AIDS (by Cox models) for individuals with higher lev els vs, lower levels of HHV-6 antibodies or considering levels of antibodie s based on 10% increase of the distribution (deciles). Rates of CD4 decline fitting linear regression were also estimated, Results: A total of 381 per sons were followed for a median time of 4 years (range: 0.15-9 years) follo wing the date of collection of the serum sample. The median OD value of HHV -6 antibodies was 306, with an interquartile range of 241-440 and a range o f 48-2330. A slight inverse correlation was found between HHV-6 antibody le vels and age of the individual at the time of serum collection (Spearman ra nk correlation coefficient, -0.16; p = 0.0013). No association was found be tween HHV-6 and CD4 level or between HHV-6 and CD8 level at the date of ser um collection. The unadjusted RH of progression to AIDS was 0.63 (95% CI: 0 .42-0.96) for HHV-6 positive individuals vs. HHV-6 negative; when adjusting for possible confounders (CD4, age, pre-AIDS HIV-related pathologies at th e date of sera collection,and previous anti-herpes treatment), the RH of AI DS increased to 0.80 (95% CI: 0.51-1.23). No particular association with HI V disease progression was found when using the deciles of the distribution of HHV-6 antibodies. The median CD4 cell loss was 5.0 x 10(6) cells/l per m onth among HHV-6 positive individuals and 5.7 x 10(6) cells/l per month amo ng the others. Conclusions: The presence of high levels of HHV-6 antibodies does not seem to predict the clinical or immunologic progression of HIV di sease.