HIV and Aging - Perhaps Not as Dramatic as We Feared?

Ever since the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (ART) in 1995, HIV infection has been linked to "metabolic" complications (insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, osteoporosis, and others). Studies suggested increased rates of myocardial infarction, renal insufficiency, neurocognitive dysfunction, and fractures in HIV-postitive patients. Even long-term suppression of HIV seemed to be accompanied by an excess of deleterious inflammation that could promote these complications. The aims of this viewpoint paper are to summarize recent data and to examine the possibility that the problem of aging-related morbidity in HIV might not be as dramatic as previously believed.