Prevalence of hypertension and cardiovascular risk factors among long-term AIDS survivors: A report from the field

Cardiovascular risk factors and comorbidities in people living with HIV: A cross-sectional multicenter study from Colombia comorbidities in a Colombian PLWHIV population

INTRODUCTION

HIV is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular diseases (CVD). There is insufficient information regarding comorbidities and cardiovascular risk factors in the Colombian HIV population. The aim of this study is to describe the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors and comorbidities in patients from the HIV Colombian Group VIHCOL.

METHODS

This is a multicenter, cross-sectional study conducted in the VIHCOL network in Colombia. Patients 18 years or older who had at least 6 months of follow-up were included. A stratified random sampling was performed to estimate the adjusted prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors and comorbidities.

RESULTS

A total of 1616 patients were included. 83.2% were men, and the median age was 34 years. The adjusted prevalence for dyslipidemia, active tobacco use, hypothyroidism, and arterial hypertension was 51.2% (99% CI: 48.0%-54.4%), 7.6% (99% CI: 5.9%-9.3%), 7.4% (99% CI: 5.7%-9.1%), and 6.3% (99% CI: 4.8%-7.9%), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

In this Colombian HIV cohort, there is a high prevalence of modifiable CVD risk factors such as dyslipidemia and active smoking. Non-pharmacological and pharmacological measures for the prevention and management of these risk factors should be reinforced.

High Prevalence of AH in HIV Patients on ART, in Bahia, Brazil

INTRODUCTION

The prevalence of arterial hypertension (AH) in HIV-patients is highly variable and its association with antiretroviral therapy (ART) is controversial.

OBJECTIVE

To estimate the prevalence of AH and associated factors in HIV-patients on ART.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study was conducted in HIV-patients attended in a referral center in Salvador, Brazil. We evaluated clinical, socio-demographic and anthropometric data. Student's ttests or Mann-Whitney's and Pearson's chi-square tests were used to compare the groups. Values of p <0.05 were considered significant. The variables that presented a value of p <0.20 were included in a logistic regression model.

RESULTS

We evaluated 196 patients (60.7% male) with a mean age of 46.8 ± 11.7 years and a mean body mass index of 24.9 ± 5.3 kg / m2. The median elapsed time since HIV diagnosis and ART use was 11.8 (4.4 - 18.1) and 7.2 (2.7 - 15.3) years, respectively. The prevalence of AH was 41.8%. For individuals > 50 years old, there was a significant association between the increased abdominal circumference and AH and patients ≤ 50 years old presented significant association between AH and overweight, increased abdominal circumference and number of previous ART regimens. After multivariate analysis, age [OR:1.085; 95% CI 1,039 - 1,133], overweight [OR: 4.205; 95% CI 1,841 - 9,606], family history of AH [OR: 2.938; 95% CI 1,253 - 6.885], increased abdominal circumference [OR: 2.774; 95% CI 1.116 - 6.897] and life-time number of ART regimens used [OR: 3.842; 95% CI 1.307 - 11.299] remained associated with AH.

CONCLUSION

AH was highly prevalent and was associated not only with classical risk factors for arterial hypertension, but also with specific ART regimens.

Decreased Docosahexaenoic Acid Levels in Serum of HIV Carrier Patients

The study aimed to measure serum fatty acids (FAs) composition in HIV carrier patients and compare it with non-HIV carrier patients. The FAs composition was measured by gas chromatography as follows: four saturated FAs myristic acid (14:0), palmitic acid (16:0), stearic acid (18:0), and docosanoic acid (22:0); four monounsaturated FAs 7-hexadecenoic acid (16:1 n-9), palmitoleic acid (16:1 n-7), oleic acid (18:1 n-9), and vaccenic acid (18:1 n-7); and three polyunsaturated FAs linoleic acid (18:2 n-6), dihomo-γ-linolenic acid (20:3 n-6), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6 n-3). We reported herein lower (P < .05) DHA concentration (by 40%) in the serum of HIV carrier patients than in non-HIV carrier patients. This FA has a pivotal role as a precursor of anti-inflammatory molecules with beneficial effects on metabolism, cardiovascular system, and immunological system. Even though most clinical studies reported beneficial effects of DHA supplementation in HIV carrier patients, this issue remains under debate. Further investigations then require to fully clarify the role of DHA in preventing or alleviating the comorbidities associated with HIV infection.