Unique Gut Microbiome in HIV Patients on Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) Suggests Association with Chronic Inflammation

Chronic inflammation is a hallmark of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and a risk factor for the development and progression of age-related comorbidities. Although HIV-associated gut dysbiosis has been suggested to be involved in sustained chronic inflammation, there remains a limited understanding of the association between gut dysbiosis and chronic inflammation during HIV infection. Here, we investigated compositional changes in the gut microbiome and its role in chronic inflammation in patients infected with HIV. We observed that the gut microbiomes of patients with low CD4 counts had reduced alpha diversity compared to those in uninfected controls. Following CD4 recovery, alpha diversity was restored, but intergroup dissimilarity of bacterial composition remained unchanged between patients and uninfected controls. Patients with HIV had higher abundance of the classes Negativicutes, Bacilli, and Coriobacteriia, as well as depletion of the class Clostridia. These relative abundances positively correlated with inflammatory cytokines and negatively correlated with anti-inflammatory cytokines. We found that gut dysbiosis accompanying HIV infection was characterized by a depletion of obligate anaerobic Clostridia and enrichment of facultative anaerobic bacteria, reflecting increased intestinal oxygen levels and intestinal permeability. Furthermore, it is likely that HIV-associated dysbiosis shifts the immunological balance toward inflammatory Th1 responses and encourages proinflammatory cytokine production. Our results suggest that gut dysbiosis contributes to sustaining chronic inflammation in patients with HIV infection despite effective antiretroviral therapy and that correcting gut dysbiosis will be effective in improving long-term outcomes in patients. IMPORTANCE Chronic inflammation is a hallmark of HIV infection and is associated with the development and progression of age-related comorbidities. Although the gastrointestinal tract is a major site of HIV replication and CD4⁺ T-cell depletion, the role of HIV-associated imbalance of gut microbiome in chronic inflammation is unclear. Here, we aimed to understand the causal relationship between abnormalities in the gut microbiome and chronic inflammation in patients with HIV. Our results suggest HIV-associated gut dysbiosis presents a more aerobic environment than that of healthy individuals, despite prolonged viral suppression. This dysbiosis likely results from a sustained increase in intestinal permeability, which supports sustained bacterial translocation in HIV patients, despite effective therapy. Additionally, we observed that several bacterial taxa enriched in HIV patients were associated with increased expression of inflammatory cytokines. Collectively, these results suggest that gut dysbiosis plays an important role in chronic inflammation in HIV patients.