Soluble CD163 Predicts Incident Chronic Lung, Kidney and Liver Disease in HIV Infection

OBJECTIVE:: To examine if monocyte and macrophage activity may be on the mechanistic pathway to non-AIDS comorbidity by investigating the associations between plasma soluble CD163 (sCD163) and incident non-AIDS comorbidities in well-treated HIV-infected individuals. DESIGN:: Prospective single-center cohort study. METHODS:: Plasma sCD163 was quantified by ELISA technique at study entry in 2004/05 and non-AIDS comorbidity was identified by International Classification of Disease Tenth revision (ICD-10) diagnosis codes and registry linkage in 2014/2015. Associations between sCD163 and incident comorbidity was examined using multivariable Cox proportional hazards models adjusted for pertinent covariates. RESULTS:: In HIV-1 infected individuals (n=799), the highest quartile of plasma sCD163 was associated with incident chronic lung disease (adjusted hazard ratio (aHR), 3.2; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.34; 7.46) and incident chronic kidney disease (aHR, 10.94; 95% CI: 2.32;51.35), when compared with lowest quartiles. Further, (every one mg) increase in plasma sCD163 was positively correlated with incident liver disease (aHR, 1.12; 95%CI: 1.05;1.19). The sCD163 level was not associated with incident cancer, CVD, or diabetes mellitus. CONCLUSIONS:: sCD163 was independently associated with incident chronic kidney disease, chronic lung disease, and liver disease in treated HIV-1 infected individuals, suggesting that monocyte/macrophage activation may be involved in the pathogenesis of non-AIDS comorbidity and a potential target for therapeutic intervention.