NIH trial to assess CV impact of aspirin, statins in patients with HIV

The NIH announced the launch of a clinical trial that will evaluate the preventive effects of aspirin and statins on CVDs in patients with long-term HIV.

Recruitment for the study is currently underway and will include patients on an HIV antiretroviral therapy regimen, along with elite controllers, which are patients able to limit the virus without antiretroviral therapy. All participants will have not received either aspirin or statins within the prior 6 months, according to a press release.

“Elite controllers and people on [antiretroviral therapy] have elevated levels of clotting factors and blood markers that indicate inflammation and an active immune response,” Irini Sereti, MD, chief of the HIV pathogenesis unit at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease Laboratory of Immunoregulation, which will lead the trial, said in the release. “Over time, these factors likely contribute to an enhanced risk of CVD, so if we can lower the levels of these factors with aspirin or statins, then maybe we can lower the risk of disease, too.”

After a 3-month monitoring period to establish baseline levels of clotting and inflammatory agents in patients’ blood, participants will be randomly assigned to aspirin or atorvastatin for 9 months. Clotting and inflammatory markers in the blood will be assessed and patients will also undergo MRI.

Anthony S. Fauci

“With the remarkable success of antiretroviral therapy, people living with HIV have a near-normal life expectancy,” Anthony S. Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in the release. “However, as this population ages, noninfectious complications such as CVD begin to arise. We need to study the effects on the immune system of drugs normally prescribed for these conditions to ensure that they are beneficial for HIV-infected individuals.”