Predicting the Risk of Tuberculosis-Associated Immune Reconstitution Inflammatory Syndrome in HIV-Infected Patients with Central Nervous System Tuberculosis

Abstract

Objective — to identify risk factors associated with the development of Tuberculosis-Associated Immune Reconstitution Inflammatory Syndrome (TB-IRIS) in HIV-infected patients with central nervous system tuberculosis. The analysis assessed the relationship between the risk of develo­ping TB-IRIS with neurological manifestations and the following factors: 1) viral load before antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation; 2) CD4+ lymphocyte of blood before ART initiation; 3) duration of antituberculosis therapy before starting ART; 4) presence of active tuberculosis at the time of ART initiation. Materials and methods. 112 cases of neurological TB-IRIS were analyzed. These patients were treated and observed during the 1 year in anti-tuberculosis facilities in Kyiv and Kyiv region in 2017—2021. All patients received ART in accordance with the HIV treatment protocols adopted in Ukraine. Treatment according to the standard of tuberculosis treatment adopted in Ukraine. The logistic regression model construction method was used to analyze. Statistical processing of the obtained data was carried out using free software — the EZR package (version 1.61; https://www.jichi.ac.jp/).The study was carried out as part of the applied research work 0121U107800 «Predicting the development of the incidence of tuberculosis in Ukraine in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic», funded by the Ministry of Health of Ukraine. Results and discussion. After calculations, two factor signs were identified, associated with the of deve­loping TB-IRIS with neurological manifestations: the baseline level of CD4+ lymphocytes in 1 μl of blood at the beginning of treatment and the presence of active tuberculosis at the time of ART initiation. Conclusions. It was found that the risk of developing TB-IRIS with neurological manifestations is significantly associated (p < 0.05) with the following factors: 1) the level of CD4+ lymphocytes in 1 μl at the beginning of treatment; 2) presence of active tuberculosis at the time of ART initiation.