Identification and characterization of HIV positive Ethiopian elite controllers in both Africa and Israel

HIV elite controllers (ECs) are a unique subgroup of HIV-positive patients who are long-term virologically suppressed in the absence of antiretroviral treatment (ART). The prevalence of this subgroup is estimated to be < 1%. Various cohorts of ECs have been described in developed countries, most of which have been demographically heterogeneous. The aim of this study was to identify ECs in two large African cohorts and to estimate their prevalence in a relatively genetically homogenous population.

We screened two cohorts of HIV-positive Ethiopian patients. The first cohort resided in Mekelle, Ethiopia. The second was comprised of HIV-positive Ethiopian immigrants in Israel. In the Mekelle cohort, ART-naïve subjects with stable CD4 counts were prospectively screened using two measurements of viral load 6 months apart. Subjects were defined as ECs when both measurements were undetectable. In the Israeli cohort, subjects with consistently undetectable viral loads (mean of 17 viral load measurements/patient) and stable CD4 count > 500 cells/μL were defined as ECs.

In the Mekelle cohort, 16 of 9515 patients (0.16%) fitted the definition of EC, whereas seven of 1160 (0.6%) in the Israeli cohort were identified as ECs (P = 0.011).

This is the first large-scale screening for HIV-positive ECs to be performed in entirely African cohorts. The overall prevalence of ECs is within the range of that previously described in developing countries. The significant difference in prevalence between the two cohorts of similar genetic background is probably a consequence of selection bias but warrants further investigation into possible environmental factors which may underlie the EC state.