TY - JOUR

T1 - Elevated plasma apolipoprotein E levels in people living with HIV

T2 - Associations with biomarkers and HIV-specific risk factors

AU - Reimer Jensen, Anne Marie

AU - Frikke-Schmidt, Ruth

AU - Gelpi, Marco

AU - Knudsen, Andreas D.

AU - Benfield, Thomas

AU - Nordestgaard, Børge G.

AU - Afzal, Shoaib

AU - Biering-Sørensen, Tor

AU - Nielsen, Susanne Dam

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2024 The Authors

PY - 2024

Y1 - 2024

N2 - Background and aims: Apolipoprotein E (apoE) plays a crucial role in cholesterol metabolism, and high levels of apoE in plasma are associated with cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality. We aimed to assess if HIV is independently associated with high plasma apoE and to determine HIV-related risk factors for high plasma apoE. Methods: We included 661 people with HIV (PWH) from the Copenhagen Comorbidity in HIV (COCOMO) study with available measurement of plasma apoE. COCOMO participants were frequency matched 1:1 on age and sex with controls from the Copenhagen General Population Study. High plasma apoE was defined as levels above the 90th percentile (66.2 mg/L). The association between HIV and high plasma apoE was assessed using logistic regression models. Among PWH, both linear and logistic regression models were used to determine HIV-specific risk factors for high plasma apoE. Results: Mean age was 52 years and 89 % were male. Median plasma apoE was 49.0 mg/L in PWH and 43.3 mg/L in controls, p < 0.001. HIV was associated with higher plasma apoE after adjusting for potential confounders, including triglycerides (odds ratio 2.14 [95 % CI: 1.39–3.29], p < 0.001). In PWH, higher plasma apoE was associated with a previous AIDS-defining condition in linear models before adjustment for triglycerides and integrase strand transfer inhibitor use in fully adjusted linear models. Conclusions: PWH had higher plasma apoE than controls even after adjusting for triglycerides. Further studies are needed to elucidate the clinical impact of high plasma apoE in PWH.

AB - Background and aims: Apolipoprotein E (apoE) plays a crucial role in cholesterol metabolism, and high levels of apoE in plasma are associated with cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality. We aimed to assess if HIV is independently associated with high plasma apoE and to determine HIV-related risk factors for high plasma apoE. Methods: We included 661 people with HIV (PWH) from the Copenhagen Comorbidity in HIV (COCOMO) study with available measurement of plasma apoE. COCOMO participants were frequency matched 1:1 on age and sex with controls from the Copenhagen General Population Study. High plasma apoE was defined as levels above the 90th percentile (66.2 mg/L). The association between HIV and high plasma apoE was assessed using logistic regression models. Among PWH, both linear and logistic regression models were used to determine HIV-specific risk factors for high plasma apoE. Results: Mean age was 52 years and 89 % were male. Median plasma apoE was 49.0 mg/L in PWH and 43.3 mg/L in controls, p < 0.001. HIV was associated with higher plasma apoE after adjusting for potential confounders, including triglycerides (odds ratio 2.14 [95 % CI: 1.39–3.29], p < 0.001). In PWH, higher plasma apoE was associated with a previous AIDS-defining condition in linear models before adjustment for triglycerides and integrase strand transfer inhibitor use in fully adjusted linear models. Conclusions: PWH had higher plasma apoE than controls even after adjusting for triglycerides. Further studies are needed to elucidate the clinical impact of high plasma apoE in PWH.

KW - Antiretroviral treatment

KW - APOE

KW - Apolipoprotein E

KW - HIV

KW - Human immunodeficiency virus

KW - Triglycerides

U2 - 10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2024.117457

DO - 10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2024.117457

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 38301603

AN - SCOPUS:85184065518

VL - 390

JO - Journal of atherosclerosis research

JF - Journal of atherosclerosis research

SN - 1567-5688

M1 - 117457

ER -