PLASMA-LIPIDS IN HIV-INFECTED PATIENTS - A PROSPECTIVE-STUDY IN 95 PATIENTS

The present study aimed to determine plasma lipid levels in 95 HIV-inf ected patients divided into four groups according to the CD4 lymphocyt e counts comparatively to a control group of 20 HIV-negative normolipi daemic subjects. A relationship between lipidic abnormalities and immu ne or nutritional status was also investigated. The patients below 200 CD4 lymphocyte mm(-3) (groups 1 and 2) had significantly lower total cholesterol than the controls. The patients below 400 CD4 lymphocytes mm(-3) (groups 1, 2, 3) had significantly higher triglycerides and Lp( a) but lower LDL-cholesterol than the controls. In all HIV-positive pa tients, whatever their CD4 lymphocyte count, HDL-C and apoA1 were lowe r than in the controls. By multivariate analysis triglycerides were po sitively correlated to acute opportunistic infections and to interfero n-alpha levels, while cholesterol was negatively correlated to TNF-alp ha, and LDL-C was positively correlated to albuminaemia. The latter pa rameter was the only lipidic value to correlate with nutritional marke rs. The contamination route, or the presence of wasting, was not corre lated to any lipidic disorder.