HIV and Accelerated Atheroprogression: Role of Antiretroviral Therapy

Antonio      Di Biagio; Valerio      Del Bono; Raffaella      Rosso; Claudio      Viscoli

doi:10.2174/138920112798868520

Abstract

The introduction of effective and potent treatments for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection resulted in prolonged survival and better quality of life of HIV-infected patients. However, the longer survival and the anti-HIV medication side effects caused the emergence of new clinical issues, such as the increase in cardiovascular risk, favored by multiple factors, partly related to HIV infection itself, partly to the anti-HIV molecules. HIV infection itself may affect cardiovascular risk through chronic inflammation induced by uncontrolled viral replication, whereas long-term antiretroviral therapy may increase the cardiovascular risk through several mechanisms. Thus, due to the multiple and conflicting causes of cardiovascular disorders in HIV-infected patients, clinicians should take into consideration all modifiable risk factors, in order to implement an effective prevention of this clinical issue.

Keywords: HIV infection, AIDS, atherosclerosis, cardiovascular risk, antiretroviral therapy, lipids, endothelium, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), anti-HIVmedication, chronic inflammation, uncontrolled viral replication, efficacy of the combination antiretroviral treatment (cART), dyslipidemia, insulinresistance and endothelial damage