Dyslipidemia in ART-Naive HIV-Infected Persons in Nigeria—Implications for Care

Abstract

A significant burden of dyslipidemia exists among ART-naive HIV-infected persons. Low HDL-C was the most frequently observed abnormality. The abnormalities related more with viral load levels than with CD4 counts. Dyslipidemia screening should be done in ART-naive HIV-infected persons. Simple healthy lifestyle changes should be emphasized, with other care given to those with the disorder.

Lipids profile among ART-naïve HIV infected patients and men who have sex with men in China: a case control study

“…Those who had higher level of HIV RNA had a higher atherogenic risk profile. This is consistent with the previously reported studies which showed HDL-C was negatively correlated with viral load and the TG levels was positively correlated with viral load on the contrary [11, 22, 26]. These studies also demonstrated AIP or lipids parameters correlated with immunologic status of HIV infected people.…”

“…A possible explanation for the TG difference may be the differed degrees of immunosuppression of the HIV infection patients. A study conducted in Nigeria showed that the TG levels were reversely correlated with CD4 counts and positively correlated with viral load [11]. The HIV infected participants in our study had a better immune status as reflected by a median CD4 cell count of 404.0 (281.5–531.5) cell/μl in the AHI group and 173.0 (104.3–243.2) in the CHI group compared to previous studies.…”

“…However, this study did not have a control group, and most of enrolled patients were female. Significantly more females than males had dyslipidemia, which may contribute to higher AIP value [11, 25]. Our result suggested that the patients in the early HIV infection stage should be monitored lipids frequently.…”

“…HIV infection induced a typically early decrease of TC first, followed by HDL-C and LDL-C, and TG increase last. These lipids alterations associated with specific changes in immune function [11, 21]. …”

“…HIV infection may lead to structural and functional changes in HDL-C [9]. In both ART‑naïve chronic HIV infection (CHI) adult and children patients, low HDL-C was the most frequently observed abnormality and there existed a significant relationship between lipid parameters and viral load [10, 11]. Results from the Veterans Aging Cohort Study showed that HIV infection was associated with decreased TC, HDL-C, LDL-C and elevation of TG, ART initiation did not reverse alteration in TG or LDL-C to pre-HIV infection levels [12].…”