HIV drugs raise risk of artery plaques

Recent research provides further evidence that HIV drugs called protease inhibitors may increase the risk of artery "plaques". As these drugs have been shown to markedly improve the survival of HIV-infected patients, the researchers do not recommend simply abandoning them. Rather, patients treated with the drugs should undergo periodic ultrasound tests to look for these plaques. Researchers form the University of Bari used ultrasound to evaluate the association between anti-HIV drugs and artery plaques in a total of 293 HIV-infected patients. Specifically, they looked for plaques in a blood vessel in the neck called the carotid artery. One hundred five patients were treated with regimens that included protease inhibitors. The remaining patients were either treated with regimens that didn't include protease inhibitors or with nothing at all. On follow-up, 52 percent of patients treated with protease inhibitors displayed plaques on ultrasound. In contrast, the rate among other patients was only about 15 percent. Age, smoking, and immune status all seemed to influence the risk of plaques, but the strongest predictor was the use of protease inhibitors. The current findings support previous research by the same investigators reported in 2000. Protease inhibitor regimens appear to be major players in the development of artery plaques, the researchers conclude though additional studies are needed to clarify exactly how such drugs may cause plaques.