Fig. 6: Longitudinal dynamics during hyperacute HIV-1 infection of key differentially expressed proteins associated with ARS, viral load, and disease progression.

This schematic illustrates the temporal changes in expression for proteins associated with ARS, viral load, and disease progression during acute phase of HIV-1 infection. Protein expression levels were assessed both before infection, and within the two to 6 weeks following infection in the 54 study participants. Participants were categorized into subgroups based on various outcomes, including ARS (presence or absence), viral control status (controllers or non-controllers), and the rate of disease progression (fast or slow). The x-axis of the graph represents the time in days following infection when plasma samples were collected, while the y-axis represents the mean protein expression levels relative to the pre-infection baseline. Key proteins associated with ARS, viral control and disease progression are depicted using smoothed lines generated through local regression plotting with a span of 1.5. The selected proteins represented the top proteins associated with ARS, viral load, and disease progression. To enhance clarity and highlight distinctive patterns, proteins with similar dynamics in the group comparisons were excluded. Abbreviations: ARS acute retroviral syndrome.