HIV Treatment Reverses Accelerated Biological Aging by Nearly Four Years, Swiss Study Reveals
核心洞察
A landmark Swiss study presented at ESCMID (搜索) Global 2026 demonstrates that antiretroviral therapy (搜索) reduces accelerated biological aging in people with HIV (搜索) by nearly four years.
Researchers developed a plasma proteomic aging clock using blood protein patterns, finding that untreated HIV (搜索) infection accelerates biological age by a median of 10 years.
After an average of 1.55 years of ART (搜索) treatment, participants showed a significant mean reduction of 3.7 years in proteomic age, with continued improvement over time.
A groundbreaking study presented at ESCMID (搜索) Global 2026 has revealed that antiretroviral therapy (搜索) (ART (搜索)) can reverse accelerated biological aging in people with HIV (搜索) by nearly four years, offering new insights into the profound health benefits of HIV treatment beyond viral suppression.
Researchers from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne developed an innovative plasma proteomic aging clock (PAC) that estimates biological age by analyzing patterns across hundreds of blood proteins. This tool reflects physiological aging rather than chronological age, providing a more accurate picture of how HIV (搜索) infection and treatment affect the body's aging processes.
Novel Aging Clock Reveals HIV's Impact
The PAC was initially trained on 941 plasma samples from people with HIV (搜索) receiving successful antiretroviral therapy (搜索). The researchers then evaluated the tool in 80 participants from the Swiss HIV Cohort Study (搜索), who collectively contributed 294 longitudinal samples spanning both untreated HIV infection and suppressive post-ART (搜索) phases.
During untreated HIV (搜索) infections, the PAC estimated that people's biological age was accelerated by a median of 10 years compared to their chronological age. This finding quantifies the severe physiological toll that uncontrolled HIV infection takes on the human body.
Significant Reversal with Treatment
After an average of 1.55 years of ART (搜索), researchers observed a significant mean reduction of 3.7 years in proteomic age. Remarkably, proteomic age continued to move closer to chronological age with longer ART exposure, suggesting ongoing biological recovery with sustained treatment.
"This research demonstrates the importance of early start and optimal adherence to ART (搜索)," commented lead study author Dr. Barry Ryan, a postdoctoral researcher at EPFL, Switzerland. "We're extremely fortunate to have a unique group from the Swiss HIV Cohort Study (搜索) who had samples collected for up to eight years before they started ART."
Broader Immune System Recovery
The study revealed that the reversal of proteomic age acceleration after ART (搜索) was not significantly associated with CD4+ (搜索) or CD8+ (搜索) T-cell count recovery. This finding suggests that the biological age reversal reflects broader inflammatory and innate immune remodeling rather than T-cell reconstitution alone.
Ryan explained the comprehensive nature of their research: "With this group, we have measured the effect of untreated HIV (搜索) infection and successful ART (搜索) on telomere shortening, epigenetic ageing and now proteomic ageing. In each case we have shown that uncontrolled HIV infection is linked to faster ageing and that ART significantly slows this."
Clinical Implications and Future Directions
The findings provide strong scientific support for current clinical guidelines recommending prompt initiation of ART (搜索) following HIV (搜索) diagnosis. "Our findings support the current consensus for starting ART promptly after HIV diagnosis," Ryan added.
The researchers have called for external validation of the PAC in more diverse global populations and for proteome-wide feature attribution studies to pinpoint the specific pathways driving HIV (搜索)-related aging biology. These future studies could further refine understanding of how HIV affects biological aging and how treatment can optimize long-term health outcomes.
This landmark research could transform how clinicians monitor HIV (搜索) treatment effectiveness and long-term health outcomes, moving beyond traditional markers like viral load and CD4+ (搜索) counts to include biological aging assessments.