The Effect of Antiretroviral Therapy on the Lipid Profile of AIDS Patients in Maracaibo, State of Zulia, Venezuela

Abstract

A prospective study was carried out to determine the effect of antiretroviral therapy on the lipid profile in a population of 50 patients with AIDS who received their first antiretroviral drug treatment in the HIV-AIDS clinic at the Maracaibo University Hospital from November 2008 to July 2009. Serum levels of cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL-cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol were determined at the beginning and the end of the study. The therapeutic combinations were: 47 patients (94.0%) with the protease/booster inhibitors (IP/b) + nucleoside inhibitors of reverse transcriptase (NRTI) and 3 (6%)with 2NRTI + 1 non-nucleoside inhibitors of reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs). Initially, lipid profile parameters were inside the range of normality. By the end of the study, blood levels for triglycerides, total cholesterol and LDLc had increased with regard to the initial values. Conclusions are that hypertriglyceridemia is a frequent alteration in patients that receive antiretroviral therapy with PI/b combined with NRTI, since this constituted most of the sample studied.

Keywords

• sida
• terapia antirretroviral
• perfil lipídico