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A Pilot Study of Carotid Intima Media Thickness (IMT) in HIV-Infected Women Treated with Protease Inhibitors J. S. Currier*, D. L. Johnson, M. Dube, and H. Hodis.
Univ. California, Los Angeles, and Univ. of Southern California Background: The long term effects of antiretroviral therapy-induced metabolic changes remains uncertain. A precise and reproducible measure of carotid IMT, a non-invasive ultrasound (UTZ) technique, has correlated with coronary atherosclerosis.
Methods: 15 HIV infected women were matched by age and ethnicity to 15 HIV seronegative (neg) women. Subjects were excluded if they smoked, had DM or HTN. All of the women were < 35 years of age and premenopausal.
Results: The mean CD4 cell count was 436±50 and the median vRNA was <50 c/mL. The mean duration of PI use was 11± 6 months. The mean weight for the HIV+ women was 164±14 lbs compared to 147±7 lbs for HIV-neg women. Mean fasting TG in the HIV+ 239±352 mg/dl and the HIV-neg were 92±54; Chol in the HIV+ were 224±161mg/dl and the HIV-neg were 165±19; HDL levels were 42±9 mg/dl in the HIV+ and 56±12 in the HIV-neg; LDL were 117±36 mg/dl in the HIV+ and 93±14 in the HIV-neg. Among the 11 pairs with completed IMT UTZ, the HIV+ were 0.586±0.065 mm and for the HIV-neg 0.579±0.052. IMT were greater among the HIV+ compared to the control in 4 pairs, the same in 3 and less thick in 4 pairs.
Conclusion: In this small matched case control study, despite the higher rates of abnormal lipids, no differences were observed in IMT values (p=ns). While limited by the small sample size, there was no evidence of accelerated atherosclerosis among women on PI for a mean of 12 months. Larger studies with longer term follow-up are needed.
Key Words: Atherosclerosis, Lipodystrophy, Protease
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