ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Many reports have confirmed that hypertriglyceridemia (HTG) is more common in HIV-infected patients than in the general population, but the relationship between HTG and clinical conditions have not been well established. This work analyzes the relationships between CD4+ cell count, HTG and the presence of active intercurrent infections in patients hospitalized for HIV infection. METHODS: Blood specimens from hospitalized HIV-infected patients and healthy controls without HIV infection were analyzed. Clinical conditions when the specimens were collected were recorded. RESULTS: The average level of serum triglycerides from 89 HIV-infected patients was significantly higher than the 29 healthy controls (1.57 +/- 0.09 vs 0.78 +/- 0.08 mmol/l respectively) (p < 0.001). In the study group, HTG was detected in 25 patients (27%). Twenty-six patients had intercurrent infections and 50 were asymptomatic. Clinical conditions of the remaining 13 were not available. HTG was detected in 18 out of 26 patients having intercurrent infections (68%), and in 4 out of the 50 patients without active infections (8%) (p < 0.000000417). CONCLUSIONS: HTG was more frequent in HIV-infected patients than in healthy controls, and it was significantly associated with the presence of intercurrent infections. This has important diagnostic implications, because the presence of HTG might be considered an unspecific marker for intercurrent infections in HIV patients.
