Cytomegalovirus IgG linked to subclinical cardiovascular disease in women with HIV

Issue: May 2012

Among women with HIV, higher levels of cytomegalovirus IgG antibody titers were associated with subclinical cardiovascular disease, according to researchers from Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University in New York.

“HIV-infected individuals have an increased risk for cardiovascular events and may have more advanced subclinical cardiovascular disease when compared with HIV-uninfected controls,” the researchers wrote. “Cytomegalovirus viremia predicts increased mortality in treated HIV-infected patients, and recent evidence suggests that cytomegalovirus coinfection may contribute to cardiovascular complications of HIV infection.”

The researchers used data from the Women’s Interagency HIV Study, which included women with and without HIV. Among the study participants, 75% completed a carotid artery ultrasound substudy initiated in April 2004. The present study included 601 women with HIV who were enrolled in the substudy, as well as 90 women without HIV. All women were seropositive for cytomegalovirus IgG.

The mean cytomegalovirus IgG levels were higher among women with HIV, and among these women, higher cytomegalovirus IgG levels was associated with decreased carotid artery distensibility. Higher cytomegalovirus IgG antibody level was also associated with increased incidence of carotid artery lesion among women with HIV suppression due to antiretroviral therapy, but not among viremic or untreated women.

“Future research will be needed to clarify the reasons for the association between cytomegalovirus antibody titers and subclinical cardiovascular disease, and test the hypothesis that therapies directed against cytomegalovirus infection may reduce HIV disease progression and associated vascular complications,” the researchers wrote.

References:

Parrinello CM. J Infect Dis. 2012;doi:10.1093/infdis/jis276.

Disclosures:

The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.