VCAM-1 as a Biomarker of Endothelial Function among HIV-Infected Patients Receiving and Not Receiving Antiretroviral Therapy

Abstract

The Human Immunodeficiency Virus and retroviral therapy are both known risk factors for cardiovascular disease. It remains an open question whether HIV or ARV leads to increased arterial inflammation. The objective of this study was to investigate the changes in endothelial activation by measuring VCAM-1 levels among HIV-infected patients who were and were not treated with antiretroviral therapy. It is a retrospective study that included 68 HIV-infected patients, 23 of whom were never antiretroviral-treated, 15 who were ART-treated for no longer than a year, and 30 who were ART-treated for longer than a year. Blood samples were collected for biochemical analysis of the concentration of VCAM-1. The results show a statistically lower VCAM-1 level (p = 0.007) in patients treated with ART longer than a year (1442 ng/mL) in comparison to treatment-naïve patients (2392 ng/mL). The average VCAM-1 level in patients treated no longer than a year (1552 ng/mL) was also lower than in treatment-naïve patients, but with no statistical significance (p = 0.096). Long-term antiretroviral therapy was associated with the decline of VCAM-1 concentration. That may suggest the lowering of endothelial activation and the decreased risk of the development of cardiovascular disease among ARV-treated patients. However, VCAM-1 may not be a sufficient factor itself to assess this, since simultaneously there are a lot of well-known cardiovascular-adverse effects of ART.

Acute effects of cigarette smoke on Endothelial Nitric Oxide synthase, vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 and aortic intima media thickness

“…VCAM-1 accelerates the migration of adherent leukocytes along the endothelial surface, and promotes the proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells; thus, VCAM-1 may play an essential role as a pro-atherogenic molecules. 22 Exposure to cigarette smoke in this study can increase VCAM-1 expression in the aorta although the increase is not statistically significant between the two groups. An insignificant increase in VCAM-1 expression was also found in the previous human research held by Noguchi (1999).…”

Effects of albuminuria‐lowering treatments on inflammation markers: A post hoc analysis from the ROTATE trials

“…1,18 In the ROTATE studies, the concentration of the inflammation markers were higher compared with those reported in the general population. [19][20][21][22] At baseline, the concentration of some of the inflammation markers was modestly higher in patients with type 2 diabetes compared with type 1 diabetes. The differences in baseline could be explained by the differences in pathophysiology as type 1 diabetes is primarily characterized as an autoimmune disease, whereas type 2 diabetes is characterized by chronic inflammation.…”

Increased levels of circulating neurotoxic metabolites in patients with mild Covid19

“…However, there are also other proteins involved in the inflammatory response, such as the intercellular cell adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and the vascular cell adhesion protein-1 (VCAM-1), in which we were interested. Both ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 are cell surface glycoproteins that govern immune cell migration to sites of inflammation and T-cellmediated immunity in tissues (16)(17)(18). They are expressed in vascular endothelial cells and in response to inflammation, their expression is induced in epithelial and immune cells (19,20).…”