Repeated adipokine measures in HIV infected men on HAART: assessing change in adipokine levels and their correlation with lipids over the course of HIV progression and treatment

Background: Treatment with highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) slows the progression of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) thus extending the life of people infected with HIV. However, an increased incidence in dyslipidemia seen with HAART use may lead to increased cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Objective: To characterize the relationship between lipid and adipokine serum levels in HIV-infected men on HAART across disease progression and treatment at 5 time points: preseroconversion, postseroconversion/pre-HAART, HAART initiation and two post HAART visits. Methods: We measured serum levels of leptin, adiponectin, resistin, IL-6 and TNF-alpha in 54 HIV-infected men from the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS). Mixed model repeated measures ANOVA and bootstrap correlation quantify the relationships between the adipokine and lipid levels. Results: Adiponectin decreased post-seroconversion and post HAART initiation and remained lower throughout the HAART visits. TNF-alpha and IL-6 increased at seroconversion and HAART initiation and then decreased with continued therapy. Adiponectin and HDL-C were significantly positively correlated at every time point except post-seroconversion. The other adipokines were not correlated with any of the lipid measures. Conclusions: The relationship between adiponectin and HDL-C is changed with HIV infection and HAART; potentially reflecting metabolic and cardiovascular complications that seen during the course of the disease-treatment process. Public health significance: Exploring the role adipokines play in metabolic pathway disturbances in relationship to HIV infection and HAART has important public health significance by elucidating potential leading to drug therapy targets to reduce CVD risks