Register      Login
Sexual Health Sexual Health Society
Publishing on sexual health from the widest perspective
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Factors associated with the development of coronary artery disease in people with HIV

Ari S. Mushin A , Janine M. Trevillyan https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8660-5558 B C * , Sue J. Lee A D , Anna C. Hearps A E and Jennifer F. Hoy A D
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Department of Infectious Diseases, Monash University, Melbourne, Vic., Australia.

B Department of Infectious Diseases, Austin Health, Melbourne, Vic., Australia.

C Department of Infectious Diseases at the Peter Doherty Institute of Infection and Immunity, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Vic., Australia.

D Department of Infectious Diseases, Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, Vic., Australia.

E Life Sciences Discipline, Burnet Institute, Melbourne, Vic., Australia.

* Correspondence to: Janine.Trevillyan@austin.org.au

Handling Editor: Eric Chow

Sexual Health 20(5) 470-474 https://doi.org/10.1071/SH23043
Submitted: 6 February 2023  Accepted: 13 June 2023  Published: 3 July 2023

© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing

Abstract

Background

People living with HIV (PLHIV) are at increased risk for coronary artery disease (CAD). This study aimed to describe the features associated with CAD in PLHIV.

Methods

A case ([n = 160] PLHIV with CAD) control ([n = 317] PLHIV matched by age and sex without CAD) study was performed at the Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, Australia (January 1996 and December 2018). Data collected included CAD risk factors, duration of HIV infection, nadir and at-event CD4+ T-cell counts, CD4:CD8 ratio, HIV viral load, and antiretroviral therapy exposure.

Results

Participants were predominantly male (n = 465 [97.4%]), with a mean age of 53 years. Traditional risk factors associated with CAD in univariate analysis included hypertension (OR 11.4 [95%CI 5.01, 26.33], P < 0.001), current cigarette smoking (OR 2.5 [95% CI 1.22, 5.09], P = 0.012), and lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (OR 0.14 [95%CI 0.05, 0.37], P < 0.001). There was no association between duration of HIV infection, nadir or current CD4 cell count. However, current and ever exposure to abacavir (cases: 55 [34.4%]; controls: 79 [24.9%], P = 0.023 and cases: 92 [57.5%]; controls: 154 [48.6%], P = 0.048, respectively) was associated with CAD. In conditional logistic regression analysis, current abacavir use, current smoking, and hypertension remained significantly associated (aOR = 1.87 [CI = 1.14, 3.07], aOR = 2.31 [1.32, 4.04], and aOR = 10.30 [5.25, 20.20] respectively).

Conclusion

Traditional cardiovascular risk factors and exposure to abacavir were associated with CAD in PLHIV. This study highlights that aggressive management of cardiovascular risk factors remains critical for reducing risk in PLHIV.

Keywords: antiretroviral therapy, atherosclerosis, cardiac risk, cardiovascular disease, Framingham Risk Score, HIV, hypertension, smoking.

References

Currier JS, Taylor A, Boyd F, Dezii CM, Kawabata H, Burtcel B, et al. Coronary heart disease in HIV-infected individuals. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr 2003; 33(4): 506-512.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Triant VA, Lee H, Hadigan C, Grinspoon SK. Increased acute myocardial infarction rates and cardiovascular risk factors among patients with human immunodeficiency virus disease. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2007; 92(7): 2506-2512.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Klein D, Hurley LB, Quesenberry CP, Jr, Sidney S. Do protease inhibitors increase the risk for coronary heart disease in patients with HIV-1 infection? J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr 2002; 30(5): 471-477.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Strategies for Management of Antiretroviral Therapy Study Group, El-Sadr WM, Lundgren J, Neaton JD, Gordin F, Abrams D, et al. CD4+ count-guided interruption of antiretroviral treatment. N Engl J Med 2006; 355(22): 2283-2296.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Triant VA, Meigs JB, Grinspoon SK. Association of C-reactive protein and HIV infection with acute myocardial infarction. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr 2009; 51(3): 268-273.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Lang S, Mary-Krause M, Simon A, Partisani M, Gilquin J, Cotte L, et al. HIV replication and immune status are independent predictors of the risk of myocardial infarction in HIV-infected individuals. Clin Infect Dis 2012; 55(4): 600-607.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

D:A:D Study Group, Sabin CA, Worm SW, Weber R, Reiss P, El-Sadr W, et al. Use of nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors and risk of myocardial infarction in HIV-infected patients enrolled in the D:A:D study: a multi-cohort collaboration. Lancet 2008; 371(9622): 1417-1426.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Desai M, Joyce V, Bendavid E, Olshen RA, Hlatky M, Chow A, et al. Risk of cardiovascular events associated with current exposure to HIV antiretroviral therapies in a US veteran population. Clin Infect Dis 2015; 61(3): 445-452.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Sabin CA, Ryom L, d’Arminio Monforte A, Hatleberg CI, Pradier C, El-Sadr W, et al. Abacavir use and risk of recurrent myocardial infarction. AIDS 2018; 32(1): 79-88.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

10  Nan C, Shaefer M, Urbaityte R, Oyee J, Hopking J, Ragone L, et al. Abacavir use and risk for myocardial infarction and cardiovascular events: pooled analysis of data from clinical trials. Open Forum Infect Dis 2018; 5(5): ofy086.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

11  Cruciani M, Zanichelli V, Serpelloni G, Bosco O, Malena M, Mazzi R, et al. Abacavir use and cardiovascular disease events: a meta-analysis of published and unpublished data. AIDS 2011; 25(16): 1993-2004.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

12  Heart Foundation. High blood pressure statistics. National Heart Foundation of Australia; 2018. Available at https://www.heartfoundation.org.au/about-us/what-we-do/heart-disease-in-australia/high-blood-pressure-statistics

13  Myerson M, Poltavskiy E, Armstrong EJ, Kim S, Sharp V, Bang H. Prevalence, treatment, and control of dyslipidemia and hypertension in 4278 HIV outpatients. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr 2014; 66(4): 370-377.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

14  Xu Y, Chen X, Wang K. Global prevalence of hypertension among people living with HIV: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Am Soc Hypertens 2017; 11(8): 530-540.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

15  Seo HS, Choi MH. Cholesterol homeostasis in cardiovascular disease and recent advances in measuring cholesterol signatures. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol 2015; 153: 72-79.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

16  Friis-Moller N, Weber R, Reiss P, Thiebaut R, Kirk O, Antonella d’Arminio M, et al. Cardiovascular disease risk factors in HIV patients – association with antiretroviral therapy. Results from the DAD study. AIDS 2003; 17(8): 1179-1193.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

17  Usman A, Ribatti D, Sadat U, Gillard JH. From lipid retention to immune-mediate inflammation and associated angiogenesis in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. J Atheroscler Thromb 2015; 22(8): 739-749.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

18  AIHW. National drug strategy household survey 2016. Canberra: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare; 2017.

19  Rasmussen LD, Helleberg M, May MT, Afzal S, Kronborg G, Larsen CS, et al. Myocardial infarction among Danish HIV-infected individuals: population-attributable fractions associated with smoking. Clin Infect Dis 2015; 60(9): 1415-1423.
| Google Scholar |

20  Petoumenos K, Worm S, Reiss P, de Wit S, d’Arminio Monforte A, Sabin C, et al. Rates of cardiovascular disease following smoking cessation in patients with HIV infection: results from the D:A:D study(*). HIV Med 2011; 12(7): 412-421.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |