Free light chains and the risk of nonmalignant AIDS events in HIV-infected patients treated with combination antiretroviral therapy

摘要

To the Editor-We read with interest the recent article by Shiels et al in Clinical Infectious Diseases [1]. The study investigates the relationship between elevation of serum free light chain (FLC), a biomarker of B-cell dysfunction, and the risk of opportunistic infections associated with AIDS among persons infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). This study was a nested case-control study with a relatively large number of prestored specimens. Compared to controls, nonmalignant AIDS events in HIV-infected individuals were strongly associated with polyclonal serum FLC elevation. However, to better address this issue, we believe that several points need additional discussion.