Effect of antiretroviral therapy on decreasing arterial stiffness, metabolic profile, vascular and systemic inflammatory cytokines in treatment-naïve HIV: A one-year prospective study

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 18; no. 3; p. e0282728
• Main Authors: Martínez-Ayala, Pedro, Alanis-Sánchez, Guillermo Adrian, Álvarez-Zavala, Monserrat, Sánchez-Reyes, Karina, Ruiz-Herrera, Vida Verónica, Cabrera-Silva, Rodolfo Ismael, González-Hernández, Luz Alicia, Ramos-Becerra, Carlos, Cardona-Muñoz, Ernesto, Andrade-Villanueva, Jaime Federico
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 17-03-2023; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Adult; Analysis; Antiretroviral agents; Antiretroviral drugs; Antiretroviral therapy; Antiviral agents; Aorta; Automation; Biology and Life Sciences; Biomarkers; C-Reactive Protein - metabolism; Cardiovascular disease; Cardiovascular Diseases; Care and treatment; CD4 antigen; Cholesterol; Comparative analysis; Cystatin; Cystatin C; Cystatin C - metabolism; Cytokines; Cytokines - metabolism; Dimers; Dosage and administration; Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid; Female; Flow cytometry; Gelatinase B; Health aspects; Health risks; High density lipoprotein; Highly active antiretroviral therapy; HIV; HIV (Viruses); HIV Infections - drug therapy; HIV patients; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humans; Infections; Inflammation; Intercellular adhesion molecule 1; Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 - metabolism; Interleukin 18; Interleukin 8; Laboratories; Lipocalin-2 - metabolism; Male; Measurement; Medical research; Medicine and Health Sciences; Medicine, Experimental; Metabolism; Metabolome; Monocyte chemoattractant protein 1; Mortality; Myoglobin; Myoglobin - metabolism; Myoglobins; Physical Sciences; Prevention; Prospective Studies; Reduction; Risk factors; Sample size; Sexually transmitted diseases; Software; STD; Stiffness; Triglycerides; Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1; Vascular Stiffness; Mexico; United States > US
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0282728

Cardiovascular disease is a major cause of death among people living with HIV (PLH). Non-treated PLH show increased levels of inflammation and biomarkers of vascular activation, and arterial stiffness as a prognostic cardiovascular disease risk factor. We investigated the effect of one year of ART on treatment-naïve HIV(+) individuals on arterial stiffness and inflammatory and vascular cytokines.
We cross-sectionally compared aortic stiffness via tonometry, inflammatory, and vascular serum cytokines on treatment-naïve (n = 20) and HIV (-) (n = 9) matched by age, sex, metabolic profile, and Framingham score. We subsequently followed young, treatment-naïve individuals after 1-year of ART and compared aortic stiffness, metabolic profile, and inflammatory and vascular serum biomarkers to baseline. Inflammatory biomarkers included: hs-CRP, D-Dimer, SAA, sCD163s, MCP-1, IL-8, IL-18, MRP8/14. Vascular cytokines included: myoglobin, NGAL, MPO, Cystatin C, ICAM-1, VCAM-1, and MMP9.
Treatment-naïve individuals were 34.8 years old, mostly males (95%), and with high smoking prevalence (70%). Baseline T CD4+ was 512±324 cells/mcL. cfPWV was similar between HIV(-) and treatment-naïve (6.8 vs 7.3 m/s; p = 0.16) but significantly decreased after ART (-0.52 m/s; 95% CI -0.87 to -0.16; p0.006). Almost all the determined cytokines were significantly higher compared to controls, except for MCP-1, myoglobin, NGAL, cystatin C, and MMP-9. At follow-up, only total cholesterol and triglycerides increased and all inflammatory cytokines significantly decreased. Regarding vascular cytokines, MPO, ICAM-1, and VCAM-1 showed a reduction. D-Dimer tended to decrease (p = 0.06) and hs-CRP did not show a significant reduction (p = 0.17).
One year of ART had a positive effect on reducing inflammatory and vascular cytokines and arterial stiffness.