[Blood lipid changes at long-term antiretroviral treatment]. / Zmeny krevních lipidu pri dlouhodobé antiretrovirové lécbe.

UNLABELLED: The aim of study was to find the development trend of blood lipid concentration in a group of HIV positive patients treated by combination antiretroviral therapy (cART). We followed changes during the therapy and evaluated their aterogennic nature. METHODS: The group included 118 patients stepwise allocated to the AIDS Centre of the Faculty Hospital Brno, with the monitoring period being up to 1 month as the minimum and up to 17 years as the maximum. The patients were divided into cART treated patients and not treated patients. The following parameters were analysed: total cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL-cholesterol, apolipoprotein B, the total cholesterol/HDL-cholesterol index and non-HDL-cholesterol. RESULTS: Our group experienced a statistically significant increase of total cholesterol concentration already in the first months after cART initiation and this value continuously increased in the following years. The recommended target value for total cholesterol (5 mmol/l) was exceeded in the group of patients after 3-4 years of cART initiation. The triglyceride concentration showed a sudden increase already a few months after cART initiation, when the recommended optimum value of triglycerides (1.7 mmol/I) was exceeded. These changes had a further no statistic significance. The average triglyceride value was all around (slightly above) 1.7 mmol/l. Our group experienced a statistically significant increase of HDL-cholesterol concentration in the first two years after cART initiation. A statistically significant change of HDL-cholesterol concentration was not found in the following years. The average HDL-cholesterol value was above optimal value HDL-Ch > 1.0 mmol/l for men (except initial category). A statistically significant change of apolipoprotein B concentration was found after 3-4 years of cART treatment. However, the average apolipoprotein B value did not exceed the target value in any of the followed categories. No statistically significant changes of the total cholesterol/HDL-cholesterol index were found. The resulting value was under 5 in all the followed categories. Statistically significant changes of non-HDL-cholesterol were found in patients with cART already a few months after treatment initiation and its concentration continually increased. However, the recommended target value of non-HDL-cholesterol (3.8 mmol/l) was exceeded only in the category of patients treated 4 - 5 years. The development trend of CD4+ lymphocyte count and HIV-1 RNA copies means high active of cART from standpoind of immunoregeneration (CD4+ lymphocyte count) and viral suppression (HIV-1 RNA copies) even in the group of treated patient with the longest monitoring period. CONCLUSION: Monitoring of our group of HIV-positive patients treated by combination antiretroviral therapy revealed a statistically significant increase of blood lipid concentrations (inclusive of HDL-cholesterol) during the treatment. However, these changes do not have an unequivocally aterogennic nature even in the group of treated patient with the longest monitoring period.

[HIV lipodystrophy]. / HIV lipodystrofie.

Combined antiretroviral therapy results in extraordinary decrease of morbidity and mortality of HIV-infected patients and in an essential change of the HIV/AIDS disease prognosis. However, long-term intake of antiretroviral medicaments is related to occurrence of metabolic and morphological abnormalities, of which some have been combined into a new syndrome--the so called HIV lipodystrophy. The HIV lipodystrophy syndrome covers metabolic and morphological changes. Metabolic changes include dyslipidaemia with hypercholesterolaemia and/or hypertriglyceridaemia, insulin resistance with hyperinsulinaemia and hyperlaktataemia. Morphological changes have the nature of lipoatrophia (loss of subcutaneous fat--on the cheeks, on extremities, on buttocks and marked prominence of surface veins) or lipohypertrophia (growth of fat tissue--on the chest, in the dorsocervical area, lipomatosis of visceral tissues and organs, fat accumulation in the abdominal area). Several HIV lipodystrophy features are very similar to the metabolic syndrome of the general population. That is why this new syndrome represents a prospective risk of premature atherosclerosis and increase of the cardiovascular risk in young HIV positive individuals. The article mentions major presented studies dealing with the relation of antiretroviral treatment and the cardiovascular risk. The conclusions of the studies are not unequivocal--this is, among others, given by the reason that their length is short from the viewpoint of atherogenesis. The major risk of subclinical atherosclerosis acceleration seems to be related to the deep immunodeficiency and low number of CD4+ lymphocytes and florid, uncontrolled HIV infection with a high number of HIV-1 RNA copies actually circulating in the plasma. The question, whether metabolic and morphological changes related to HIV and cART carry a similar atherogenic potential as in the general population, remains open for future.

[Dyslipidaemia inducted by antiretroviral agents]. / Dyslipidemie indukovaná antiretrovirovými lécivy.

The clinical course of HIV/AIDS has been substantially modified by up-to date therapy in the recent years. The progress of the disorder has changed--today it is a chronic disease of many years course. Already in 1997 and 1998 it turned out that adverse metabolic changes which significantly affect the subsequent progress of the disease were produced by long-term HAART (highly active antiretroviral therapy). Gradually, more and more anthropometric, metabolic and coagulation changes are detected, closely resembling the changes seen in the metabolic syndrome, well known from cardiology and internal medicine--dyslipoproteinaemia, insulin resistance, abdominal obesity and so on. A combination of these disorders is clinically significant due to their role in the development of atherosclerosis and their, by no means negligible, involvement in the onset of ischaemic heart disease. In view of the much lower average age of HIV-positive individuals the earlier mentioned complications should be expected in much lower age categories than with HIV-negative individuals. Plasma lipid fractions (total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL-cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, apoA-I, apoB, LDL/HDL, apoA-I/apoB) have been investigated in 69 HIV infected subjects and the changes of these parameteres in the course of progression of HIV/AIDS due to cumulative time of exposure to HAART were explored. Significant increase of the level of proatherogenic plasma lipid fractions with tendency to develop at time course was found. These disturbances are observed in the course of very good immunological stabilization and viral suppression. No unambiguous data and results of long term studies are available, that would confirm the increase of cardiovascular risk in HIV infected subjects. Nevertheless, this increase is required and anticipated.