[Hypertriglyceridemic waist phenotype is a risk factor for subclinical atherosclerosis in human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients].

BACKGROUND AND
OBJECTIVE: To study the association between hypertriglyceridemic waist phenotype and the presence of subclinical atherosclerosis in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Cross sectional study. Hypertriglyceridemic waist phenotype was considered if the waist was ≥90cm and triglycerides ≥2.0mmol/l (178mg/dl) in men and ≥85cm and ≥1.5mmol/L (133mg/dl) in women, respectively. We used the intima-media thickness (IMT) to detect carotid subclinical atherosclerosis.
RESULTS: We analyzed 152 patients, of whom 128 (84.2%) were receiving antiretroviral therapy, 40.7% were receiving protease inhibitors and 38.1% were treated with non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors. The prevalence of hypertriglyceridemic waist phenotype was 23.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 16.8-30.3%). Patients with hypertriglyceridemic waist phenotype had higher cardiovascular risk according to the Framingham score (11.09 [7.6] vs 3.88 [4], P=0.001) and lipodystrophy (33.3 vs. 13.7%, P=0.032) and metabolic syndrome (69.4 vs. 1.9%, P<0.001) were more frequent. The IMT was elevated in 21 (13.8%) patients. Hypertriglyceridemic waist phenotype (odds ratio [OR] 4.66 [95%CI 1.05-20.6; P = 0.043]) and metabolic syndrome (OR 3.74 [95%CI 1.25-11.23; P = 0.018]) were independently associated with higher IMT.
CONCLUSIONS: The hypertriglyceridemic waist phenotype is a risk factor for subclinical atherosclerosis in HIV infected patients and it is useful to detect patients with lipodystrophy, metabolic syndrome and high cardiovascular risk.