Lima, Viviane D.Fink, ValeriaYip, BenjaminHogg, Robert S.Harrigan, Richard P.Montaner, Julio2024-05-232024-05-232010Lima, V. D., Fink, V., Yip, B., Hogg, R. S., Harrigan, P. R., & Montaner, J. (2009). Association between HIV-1 RNA level and CD4 cell count among untreated HIV-infected individuals. American Journal of Public Health, 99(S1), S193–S196. doi:10.2105/ajph.2008.13790110.2105/AJPH.2008.137901https://repositorio.huesped.org.ar/handle/123456789/1108Objectives. We examined the significance of plasma HIV-1 RNA levels (or viral load alone) in predicting CD4 cell decline in untreated HIV-infected individuals. Methods. Data were obtained from the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS. Participants included all residents who ever had a viral load determination in the province and who had never taken antiretroviral drugs (N = 890). We analyzed a total of 2074 viral load measurements and 2332 CD4 cell counts. Linear mixed-effects models were used to predict CD4 cell decline over time. Results. Longitudinal viral load was strongly associated with CD4 cell decline over time; an average of 1 log10 increase in viral load was associated with a 55-cell/mm3 decrease in CD4 cell count. Conclusions. Our results support the combined use of CD4 cell count and viral load as prognostic markers in HIV-infected individuals before the introduction of antiretroviral therapy.HIV-1 RNA levelCD4 cell countuntreated HIV-infected individualsAssociation