T cell activation predicts carotid artery stiffness among HIV-infected women
Section snippets
Study population
The Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS) is a prospective multicenter study of 3766 HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected women at six urban US field centers. HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected WIHS participants were initially recruited in 1994–1995, and additional women were added to the cohort in 2001–2002. All WIHS participants are invited to complete study visits every six months for collection of biological specimens, questionnaire data and clinical measurements. In April 2004, all WIHS
Results
Among HIV-infected women, 36% were not currently receiving antiretroviral treatment, 39% were treated and had detectable viremia, and 25% were treated and did not have detectable HIV. As previously described [17], HIV-infected women had higher frequencies of activated CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, and higher frequency of senescent CD8+ T cells, as compared with HIV-uninfected women (Table 1). Other HIV-related and cardiovascular variables appear in Table 1. Pearson correlations between carotid artery
Discussion
Among HIV-infected women, cellular markers of immune activation (defined by presence of CD38 and HLA-DR on circulating CD4+ T cells) were associated with increased carotid artery stiffness. Arterial stiffness was defined as low levels of distensibility and high values of Young's elastic modulus as measured by B-mode carotid artery ultrasound. The associations between activated CD4+ T cell frequency and vascular stiffness persisted after adjustment for HIV RNA and total peripheral CD4+ T cell
Statement of conclusions
Prior evidence suggests that patients infected with HIV may have increased risk of clinical cardiovascular events as well as subclinical structural and functional vascular changes. Among a cohort of HIV-infected women, we studied the association of carotid artery stiffness with expression of markers of T cell activation (CD38+HLA-DR+). Our findings suggest that activation of CD4+ T cells is associated with increased vascular stiffness among HIV-infected women. These findings are important
Funding
This work was supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases [grant numbers UO1-AI-35004, UO1-AI-31834, UO1-AI-34994, UO1-AI-34989, UO1-AI-34993, UO1-AI-42590] and by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development [grant number UO1-HD-32632]. This study was co-funded by the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. Additional co-funding
Disclosures
None.
Acknowledgments
Data in this manuscript were collected by the Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS) Collaborative Study Group with centers (Principal Investigators) at New York City/Bronx Consortium (Kathryn Anastos); Brooklyn, NY (Howard Minkoff); Washington DC, Metropolitan Consortium (Mary Young); The Connie Wofsy Study Consortium of Northern California (Ruth Greenblatt); Los Angeles County/Southern California Consortium (Alexandra Levine); Chicago Consortium (Mardge Cohen); Data Coordinating Center (Stephen
References (31)
- et al.
Immune-inflammatory markers and arterial stiffness indexes in subjects with acute ischemic stroke
Atherosclerosis
(2010) - et al.
Association between serum C-reactive protein levels and pulse wave velocity: a population-based cross-sectional study in a general population
Atherosclerosis
(2005) - et al.
Adaptive immunity and atherosclerosis
Clin Immunol
(2010) - et al.
Evaluation of computerized edge tracking for quantifying intima-media thickness of the common carotid artery from B-mode ultrasound images
Atherosclerosis
(1994) - et al.
Improved common carotid elasticity and intima-media thickness measurements from computer analysis of sequential ultrasound frames
Atherosclerosis
(2001) - et al.
Carotid arterial compliance in patients with congestive heart failure secondary to idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy
Am J Cardiol
(1994) - et al.
Surgical experience with carotid stenosis in young HIV-1 positive patients under antiretroviral therapy: an emerging problem?
Eur J Vasc Endovasc Surg
(2005) - et al.
Endothelial function in human immunodeficiency virus-infected antiretroviral-naive subjects before and after starting potent antiretroviral therapy: the ACTG (AIDS Clinical Trials Group) Study 5152s
J Am Coll Cardiol
(2008) - et al.
Immune activation set point during early HIV infection predicts subsequent CD4+ T-cell changes independent of viral load
Blood
(2004) - et al.
Carotid arterial stiffness as a predictor of cardiovascular and all-cause mortality in end-stage renal disease
Hypertension
(1998)
Association between human immunodeficiency virus infection and stiffness of the common carotid artery
Stroke
Initiation of antiretroviral therapy at higher nadir CD4+ T-cell counts is associated with reduced arterial stiffness in HIV-infected individuals
AIDS
Association of highly active antiretroviral therapy with increased arterial stiffness in patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus
Am J Hypertension
Aortic stiffness in untreated adult patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection
Hypertension
Arterial stiffness and endothelial dysfunction in HIV-infected children
AIDS
Cited by (101)
Effect of antiretroviral therapy on allele-associated Lp(a) level in women with HIV in the Women's Interagency HIV Study
2018, Journal of Lipid ResearchCitation Excerpt :The biological underpinnings of these effects remain to be explored as well as any relationship to the immune system. As a risk factor with the potential to remain informative over the course of lifespan and/or HIV disease due to its strong genetic control (11), Lp(a) presents a unique avenue for both risk assessment and intervention in HIV-seropositive populations. It is of particular interest in African populations, as these populations endure a greater burden of both elevated Lp(a) level and HIV infection compared with any other population groups (45, 46).
Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Aging in the Era of Effective Antiretroviral Therapy
2017, Infectious Disease Clinics of North AmericaCorrelates of physical activity among people living with and without HIV in rural Uganda
2023, Frontiers in Reproductive Health