Immune Activation in HIV-1 Infected Patients Under AntiRetroviral Treatment: Etiologic Factors, Forms and Potential Association With Chronic Comorbidities Unrelated to Immune Deficiency.

Immune Activation persists in HIV-1 infected patients despite efficient antiretroviral treatment. This immune activation is responsible for immune deficiency as well as for non-AIDS related comorbidities, such as non-alcoholic Fatty liver disease, metabolic syndrome or osteoporosis. The goal of this observational transversal multicentric study is to establish the etiologic factors of persistent immune activation in treated HIV-1 infected patients (persistent de novo infection of T CD4+ cells, microbial translocation, active coinfections, immunosenescence, T CD4+ cells lymphopenia, Treg deficiency), its different forms ( activation of T CD4+ cells, T CD8+ cells, B cells, NK cells, monocytes, granulocytes, platelets, endothelial cells or general inflammation) and the potential correlation between causes, forms of immune activation and emergent comorbidities (kidney, bone or liver dysfunction, metabolic syndrome). These correlations could highlight physiopathologic mechanisms relating a specific cause of immune activation, activation of a specific subpopulation of immune cells and a comorbidity. Physiopathologic mechanisms could then be tested in vitro and lead into new therapeutic tracks of immune activation secondary to HIV-1 or to the natural ageing process.