Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers of iron status are associated with CSF viral load, antiretroviral therapy, and demographic factors in HIV-infected adults

Table 5 Multivariable-adjusted regression models associating CSF iron biomarkers with demographic and HIV disease-related factors in CHARTER study participants

Partially adjusted (age, sex, race/ethnicity)	Multivariable-adjusted β (95% CI)	p-value
CSF iron
Age	0.004 (−0.007, 0.015)	n.s.
Sex (women vs. men)	0.102 (−0.134, 0.337)	n.s.
Race/ethnicity^a	0.104 (0.037, 0.171)	<0.01
W compared to B	0.329 (0.130, 0.529)	<0.01
W compared to H	−0.014 (−0.318, 0.289)	n.s.
H compared to B	0.327 (−0.019, 0.674)	0.01

Fully adjusted (age, sex, race/ethnicity, ART, ZDV use, plasma virus detectability, and CSF VL)	Multivariable-adjusted β-estimate (95% CI)	p-value
CSF iron
Detectable plasma virus (Y vs. N)	0.003 (−0.222, 0.230)	n.s.
CSF HIV RNA concentration (VL)	0.072 (−0.079, 0.223)	n.s.
ART (on vs. off)	0.141 (−0.149, 0.431)	n.s.
Current ZDV use (Y vs. N)	0.037 (−0.206, 0.280)	n.s.

Partially adjusted (age, sex, race/ethnicity, ZDV use)	Multivariable-adjusted β (95% CI)	p-value
CSF transferrin
Age	0.012 (0.001, 0.022)	0.03
Sex (women vs. men)	−0.225 (−0.445, 0.006)	0.04
Race/ethnicity^a	0.036 (−0.025, 0.097)	n.s.
W compared to B	0.110 (−0.078, 0.297)	n.s.
W compared to H	0.103 (−0.185, 0.390)	n.s.
H compared to B	0.070 (−0.233, 0.372)	n.s.
Current ZDV use (Y vs. N)	−0.254 (−0.467, −0.040)	0.03

Fully adjusted (age, sex, race/ethnicity, ART, ZDV use, plasma virus detectability and CSF VL)	Multivariable-adjusted β (95% CI)	p-value
CSF transferrin
Detectable plasma virus (Y vs. N)	−0.172 (−0.376, 0.032)	n.s.
CSF HIV RNA concentration (VL)	0.297 (0.145, 0.450)	<0.01
ART (on vs. off)	0.153 (−0.107, 0.413)	n.s.

Partially adjusted (age, sex, race/ethnicity, ZDV use)	Multivariable-adjusted β (95% CI)	p-value
CSF ferritin
Age	0.017 (0.006, 0.027)	<0.01
Sex (women vs. men)	−0.324 (−0.550, −0.097)	<0.01
Race/ethnicity^a	0.020 (−0.042, 0.081)	n.s.
W compared to B	0.072 (−0.121, 0.264)	n.s.
W compared to H	0.017 (−0.297, 0.332)	n.s.
H compared to B	0.049 (−0.235, 0.333)	n.s.
Current ZDV use (Y/N)	−0.196 (−0.413, 0.021)	n.s.

Fully adjusted (age, sex, race/ethnicity, ART, ZDV use, plasma virus detectability, and CSF VL)	Multivariable-adjusted β (95% CI)	p-value
CSF ferritin
Detectable plasma virus (Y vs. N)	−0.242 (−0.449, −0.035)	0.02
CSF HIV RNA concentration (VL)	0.142 (−002, 0.286)	0.05
ART (on vs. off)	−0.017 (−0.285, 0.251)	n.s.

The natural logarithm of each biomarker variable was used in all analyses due to non-normal distributions. For each biomarker, partially and fully adjusted separate multiple linear regression models are shown, which included the covariates listed, with β-estimates and their 95% confidence intervals and p-values. p-values <0.05 are statistically significant
For each biomarker, significance of covariates in partially adjusted models did not change appreciably with full adjustment
W Whites, B Blacks, H Hispanics (self-reported ancestry), VL viral (HIV RNA) load, ZDV zidovudine, ART antiretroviral therapy, CI confidence interval, CSF cerebrospinal fluid
^aFor each dichotomous comparison by race/ethnicity (ancestry), only one ancestry term (e.g., whites compared to black individuals) was entered into the model

ISSN: 2045-8118