HIV/AIDS: Research and Palliative Care (Jan 2023)
Effect of Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy on Fundus Images and Retinal Microvessel Diameter in HIV/AIDS Patients
Abstract
Qin Li,1,* Dongqiong Chen,2,* Fang Ye,3 Xiaoying Wang,4 Shangsong Yang,1 Li Wang,5 Weibo Wen2 1Department of Basic Theory of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Yunnan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Kunming, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Gynecology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Yunnan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Kunming, People’s Republic of China; 3TCM for AIDS Project Office, Linxiang Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Lincang, People’s Republic of China; 4Research and Teaching Management Section, Kunming Municipal Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Kunming, People’s Republic of China; 5Clinical Research Centre for the Prevention and Treatment of AIDS in Chinese Medicine, Yunnan Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Kunming, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Weibo Wen, Department of Gynecology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Yunnan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Kunming, Yunnan, People’s Republic of China, Email [email protected] Li Wang, Clinical Research Centre for the Prevention and Treatment of AIDS in Chinese Medicine, Yunnan Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Kunming, People’s Republic of China, Email [email protected]: We aimed to investigate whether there were changes in fundus picture and retinal microvascularity of patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) who were treated with highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART).Methods: From July 2015 to November 2016, 130 HIV/AIDS patients were collected by the Yunnan Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, including 63 treatment-naïve patients and 67 that received HAART for 12 months. Fundus picture lesions, retinal microvascular diameters, CD4+ T lymphocyte count and HIV-1 plasma viral loads were compared between the two groups. The recruited patients were mainly young and middle-aged, with more males than females. There were no significant differences in smoking history, comorbidities and opportunistic infections between the two groups.Results: According to the analysis results from SPSS 20.0 software, the number of CD4+ T lymphocytes in the treated patients (563.34± 2.56 cells/μL) increased significantly (P=0.009) as compared with untreated patients (451.37± 2.10 cells/μL), and the HIV-1 plasma viral load reduced considerably (4794 vs 0 copy/mL, P=0.000). No significant differences were observed from the fundus picture of patients after effective HAART therapy, including the retinal artery diameter, venous diameter and arteriovenous diameter ratio.Keywords: fundus, retinal microvascular, HIV/AIDS, HAART
