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Lipid Droplet Isolation for Quantitative Mass Spectrometry Analysis
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Mitigation of antiretroviral-induced hyperlipidemia by hepatitis C virus co-infection

Curtis L Cooper1, Edward Mills, Jonathan B Angel

  • 1Division of Infectious Diseases, The Ottawa Hospital, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. ccooper@ottawahospital.on.ca

AIDS (London, England)
|December 7, 2006
PubMed

Insights

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) co-infection may protect against high cholesterol caused by HIV treatment. Further research is needed to understand this effect and its impact on cardiovascular disease risk.

Area of Science:

  • Infectious Diseases
  • Hepatology
  • Cardiology

Background:

  • Hyperlipidemia is a known complication of HIV antiretroviral therapy.
  • The interplay between HIV, hepatitis C virus (HCV), antiretroviral drugs, and lipid metabolism is not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the impact of HIV/HCV co-infection on lipid profiles in patients undergoing antiretroviral therapy.
  • To compare lipid complications between HIV-mono-infected and HIV/HCV-co-infected individuals.

Main Methods:

  • Retrospective analysis of lipid data from patients at the Ottawa Hospital Immunodeficiency Clinic (1996-2005).
  • Inclusion of 357 HIV-mono-infected and 115 HIV/HCV-co-infected patients.
  • Evaluation of lipid changes and metabolic complications during highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART).

Main Results:

  • HIV/HCV co-infected patients showed significantly smaller increases in total cholesterol compared to HIV-mono-infected patients.
  • Metabolic complications led to HAART interruption in 8% of HIV-mono-infected patients, versus less than 1% in co-infected patients.
  • Total cholesterol increased in co-infected patients receiving interferon-based HCV treatment with sustained virological response (SVR).

Conclusions:

  • HCV co-infection appears to offer protection against HAART-related lipid abnormalities.
  • The underlying mechanisms for this protective effect require further investigation.
  • The long-term implications for cardiovascular disease risk in co-infected patients warrant attention.
Abstract

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