[Epidemiology of the metabolic abnormalities in patients with HIV infections]

The epidemiology of the metabolic complications of antiretroviral agents is discussed here. Contradictory findings are common in this field due to methodological problems. The prevalence depends on the activity of the infection and on the type of treatment. Before treatment, the most common lipid abnormalities are low HDL-cholesterol (< 35 mg/dL, 25.5%) and hypertriglyceridemia (> 200 mg/dL, 15.2%). The prevalence of hypercholesterolemia is 3 times higher during treatment, especially if a protease inhibitor (IP) is used. Hypertension has been described as not common because high thresholds have been used in previous reports. Diabetes has been found in 6-7%. Similar prevalences were found in a retrolective study including 464 cases. Before treatment, hypertriglyceridemia was found mainly in cases with a body weight below normal; the opposite trend was found after treatment. After one year of treatment the prevalence of hypertension (> or = 130/85), hypertriglyceridemia (> or = 150), hypercholesterolemia (> 200 mg/dL), diabetes and low HDL cholesterol (< 35 mg/dL) were 38.5, 71.1, 47.6, 2.2% and 36%, respectively. The frequencies were even greater in IP-treated cases. Smoking was a frequent modifiable risk factor in this group (42.3%). Thus, many aspects remain to be explored; the follow-up of multicentric cohorts will provide evidence for preventive actions. In Mexican HIV infected patients, hypertriglyceridemia, arterial hypertension and smoking are the most common cardiovascular risk factors.