Baseline characteristics of study participants.

PHI are individuals recruited at Fiebig stage III to V of HIV-1 infection before donating baseline samples. CHI are chronically HIV-1 infected individuals having been infected for at least 0.8 years (median 2.9, IQR 0.8–5.3 years,) and not receiving cART at recruitment. MSM means Men having sex with men; IVDU means intravenous drug user; WBC means White Blood Cells; AST means aspartate aminotransferase; ALT means alanine aminotransferase. Statistical analysis was performed using (a) Mann-Whitney test and (b) Chi-square test. P values <0.05 were considered significant differences.