Neuro-endocrine immune networks leading to HIV-associated cardiovascular abnormalities: Role of leptin

Duration of antiretroviral therapy among people living with HIV and incidence of hypertension in Ghana

Understanding the differential rates of incident hypertension among People Living with HIV (PLWH) based of duration of exposure to combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) may provide insights into the pathogenesis of hypertension in this population. Utilizing the dataset of a prospective study conducted at a Ghanaian tertiary medical center, we evaluated factors associated with incident hypertension among PLWH previously naïve to cART before study enrollment (cART newly prescribed group, n = 221) versus PLWH established on cART for at least a year (cART established group, n = 212). New-onset hypertension was diagnosed as clinic BP > 140/90 mmHg on two separate clinic visits over 12-month follow-up. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to assess factors associated with incident hypertension. Mean age of new versus cART established was 41.1 ± 8.2 versus 45.1 ± 8.6 years (p < .001), with more women in the cART established group (68.3 vs. 82%, p = .0009). There were 105 (24.3%) episodes of incident hypertension over 328 person-years follow-up (PYFU), incidence rate of 320.1 (95% CI: 263.1-385.9)/1000 PYFU, with higher rates in new versus cART established (476.6/1000 PYFU vs. 222.8/1000 PYFU, p = 0.0002). Overall, age by increasing decile (aHR 0.76; 95% CI: 0.59-0.98), log HIV-1 viral load (aHR 1.16; 1.04-1.35), and use of tenofovir (aHR 1.66; 1.04-2.64) were associated with incident hypertension. While CD4 counts, age, BMI, pre-diabetes, and urban/peri-urban residency were independently associated with hypertension in the cART established group; no independent predictors were identified among the cART newly prescribed group. Further studies to explore the potential mechanisms underlying incidence of hypertension in PLWH are warranted.

Characteristics of hypertension among people living with HIV in Ghana: Impact of new hypertension guideline

Data on the burden of hypertension among people living with HIV (PLWH) in Africa are limited, especially after new expert consensus hypertension guidelines were published in 2017. The authors sought to assess the prevalence and factors associated with hypertension among PLWH. This is a cross-sectional study involving PLWH on combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) (n = 250) compared with sex-matched cART-naïve PLWH (n = 201) in Ghana. Hypertension was defined as blood pressure ≥ 140/90 mm Hg or use of antihypertensive drugs. The authors also assessed the prevalence and predictors associated with hypertension using the recent guideline recommended cutoff BP ≥ 130/80 mm Hg. Multivariate logistic regression models were fitted to identify factors associated with hypertension among PLWH. The mean age of PLWH on cART was 45.7 ± 8.6 years, and 42.9 ± 8.8 years among PLWH cART-naive with 81% of study participants being women. The prevalence of hypertension among PLWH on cART and PLWH cART-naïve was 36.9% and 23.4%, P = 0.002 at BP ≥ 140/90 mm Hg and 57.2% and 42.3%, respectively, P = 0.0009, at BP ≥ 130/80 mm Hg. Factors associated with hypertension at BP ≥ 140/90 mm Hg in the PLWH group with adjusted odds ratio (95% CI) were increasing age, 2.08 (1.60-2.71) per 10 years, and body mass index, 1.53 (1.24-1.88) per 5 kg/m² rise. At BP ≥ 130/80 mm Hg, cART exposure, aOR of 1.77 (95% CI: 1.20-2.63), family history of hypertension, aOR of 1.43 (1.12-1.83), and hypertriglyceridemia, aOR of 0.54 (0.31-0.93), were associated with hypertension. Among PLWH, cART exposure was associated with higher prevalence of hypertension per the new guideline definition, a finding which warrants further investigation and possible mitigation.