Retrospective Analysis of the Efficacy of Early Antiretroviral Therapy in HIV-1-Infected Patients Coinfected with Pneumocystis jirovecii

The early initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in HIV-infected patients shortly after the initiation of treatment for Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) has not been fully validated in a clinical setting. We retrospectively extracted all patients diagnosed with HIV-related PCP (HIV-PCP), including those with severe cases, who were treated with first-line ART in our hospital. The HIV-PCP patients were divided into two groups: an early ART group (patients who commenced ART within 21 days after the start of PCP treatment) and a deferred ART group (patients who started ART after 22 days). We compared the incidence of AIDS progression or death, the virological suppression rate, and changes in the CD4+ cell count at 24 weeks after the initiation of ART between the two groups. In addition, we analyzed the incidences of immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome and grade 3 or 4 laboratory and clinical adverse events within 24 weeks as safety outcomes. Ninety-one HIV-PCP patients (36 in the early ART group and 55 in the deferred group) were included in this study. We found no significant difference in the incidence of AIDS progression or death between the two groups. Virological outcomes tended to be better in the early ART group but were not significantly different. Increases in the CD4+ cell counts at 24 weeks were comparable in both groups, suggesting that the safety was not significantly different. Analysis of the propensity-score matched cohort was performed to adjust for selection bias, and no significant difference was found in any outcome. Our results suggest that early ART introduction can be considered for untreated HIV-positive patients with PCP on the basis of efficacy and safety.