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Title: Long-Term HIV Treatment May Reduce Risk for Atherosclerosis
URL: http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/2271EE.htm
Doctor's Guide
August 5, 2008

PITTSBURGH, Pa -- August 5, 2008 -- Antiretroviral drugs for HIV do not increase the risk for coronary atherosclerosis, according to a study published in the August 8 issue of the journal AIDS.

The results further suggest that antiretroviral therapy may offer men with HIV some protection against atherosclerosis.

The study, part of the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS) initiated in 1983, measured levels of coronary artery calcification (CAC) in nearly 950 HIV+ and HIV- men by CT scanning completed between 2004 and 2006.

Controlling for traditional atherosclerosis risk factors such as age, family history, smoking, and blood pressure, the study team found that CAC scores were almost 60% lower in HIV+ men who received highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) for more than 8 years compared to HIV- men.

"While some studies have found an association between antiretroviral treatments and increased risk of cardiovascular disease, we believe our findings should reassure clinicians that using antiretroviral therapy over time does not appear to put patients at greater risk for coronary atherosclerosis and may, in fact, be more beneficial than we had initially thought," said lead author Lawrence Kingsley, PhD, Departments of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology and Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The study also found that for both HIV+ and HIV- men, older age was most strongly associated with the presence of coronary atherosclerosis. Smoking, lipid abnormalities, and family history also played a role.

"What remains to be determined is whether use of the newest antiretroviral therapies confers an even better outcome and whether lipid-lowering therapies will further improve cardiovascular risk in the HIV-infected population. Our future research will address these questions," said Dr. Kingsley.


SOURCE: University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences

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