title: Evaluation of endothelial function and subclinical atherosclerosis in association with hepatitis C virus in HIV-infected patients: a cross-sectional study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Relationship of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in HIV-infected patients remains controversial. We evaluated endothelial function and subclinical atherosclerosis in HIV-infected patients with and without HCV.
  
  
  METHODS
  Flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) of the brachial artery and circulating levels of cell adhesion molecules (CAM) were measured in HCV/HIV-coinfected and HIV-monoinfected patients. Subclinical atherosclerosis was assessed by carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT).
  
  
  RESULTS
  63 (31%) HCV/HIV-coinfected and 138 (69%) HIV-monoinfected patients were included. Median soluble vascular CAM-1 (sVCAM-1) and intercellular CAM-1 (sICAM-1) levels were significantly higher in HIV/HCV-coinfected patients (P < 0.001 for both cases). Median (interquartile range) FMD was 6.21% (2.86-9.62) in HCV/HIV-coinfected and 5.54% (2.13-9.13) in HIV-monoinfected patients (P = 0.37). Adjustment for variables associated with HCV and FMD disclosed similar results. FMD correlated inversely with cIMT and age. Carotid IMT did not differ between HCV/HIV-coinfected and HIV-monoinfected patients in unadjusted (0.61 [0.55-0.65] mm vs 0.60 [0.53-0.72] mm; P = 0.39) or adjusted analyses.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  HCV infection was associated with higher levels of sICAM-1 and sVCAM-1, but no evidence of increased subclinical atherosclerosis was found when endothelial function was evaluated through FMD, or when assessing the cIMT.
authors.affiliation: Infectious Diseases Unit, Hospital General Universitario de Elche, Alicante, Spain. marmasia@ya.com
authors.forename: Mar
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Masiá
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Padilla
authors.forename: Catalina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Robledano
authors.forename: José M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Ramos
authors.forename: Félix
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gutiérrez
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D058070:Asymptomatic Diseases; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology; D001916:Brachial Artery / Q000473:pathology; D002339:Carotid Arteries / Q000473:pathology; D059168:Carotid Intima-Media Thickness; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules / Q000097:blood; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules