Prevalence and incidence of diabetes in HIV-infected minority patients on protease inhibitors.

In HIV-infected patients, the use of protease inhibitors (PIs) is associated with a constellation of abdominal obesity; buffalo hump; decreased facial and subcutaneous fat; hyperlipidemia and type-2 diabetes mellitus, a so-called HAART-associated dysmetabolic syndrome. The incidence and prevalence of one of its components, the type-2 diabetes mellitus, among minority population is unknown. In August and September 1999, we reviewed 101 charts of HIV-infected patients who visited an inner-city HIV outpatient clinic. The age, gender, ethnicity, BMI, fasting plasma glucose, random serum glucose, triglycerides, CD4 counts, and the type and duration of antiretroviral drugs were recorded. Three years later (2002), the same patient charts were reviewed for evidence of new-onset diabetes. Ten percent of the subjects were identified as diabetic at baseline. The prevalence of diabetes was 12% among those who were taking PIs, compared to 0% among those who were not taking PIs. The incidence of newly diagnosed diabetes during this three-year period was 7.2%. Diabetes occurred only in the group taking PIs. Diabetic subjects were older than their nondiabetic counterparts. All were African Americans. Our study suggests that PIs increase the likelihood of diabetes developing with increasing age in African Americans infected with HIV.