The use of corticosteroids does not influence CD4+ lymphocyte recovery in HIV-infected patients with advanced immunodeficiency

Corticosteroids inhibit HIV-related immune activation and seem to have a mild favorable effect on immunological recovery in patients with CD4+ counts ≥200 cells/mm3. Data in patients with advanced immunodeficiency are lacking. We analyzed whether corticosteroids negatively influence the short-term CD4+ lymphocyte recovery in patients with CD4+ cell counts <200 cells/mm3 started on combination antiretroviral therapy (cART). We performed a retrospective cohort analysis including all HIV-infected patients under follow-up in our hospital with a documented episode of Pneumocystis Jirovecii Pneumonia (PJP) in the cART era. CD4+ lymphocyte recovery was assessed at three months after the episode of PJP and subsequent start of cART, comparing patients that received adjunctive corticosteroids (AC) versus patients that did not receive corticosteroids (standard care (SC)). In total, 66 patients with an episode of PJP were identified with 38 patients in the AC-group versus 28 patients in the SC-group. Almost all baseline characteristics were similar, including mean CD4+ lymphocyte counts. After three months, the mean CD4+ cell count did not differ; 222 cells/mm3 for the SC-group versus 259 cells/mm3 for the AC-group (p = .29). The use of corticosteroids does not alter CD4+ lymphocyte recovery in HIV-infected patients with advanced immunodeficiency in the first months of antiretroviral therapy.