18FDG PET-CT imaging detects arterial inflammation and early atherosclerosis in HIV-infected adults with cardiovascular disease risk factors

摘要

Background Persistent vascular inflammation has been implicated as an important cause for a higher prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in HIV-infected adults. In several populations at high risk for CVD, vascular 18Fluorodeoxyglucose (18FDG) uptake quantified using 3D-positron emission-computed tomography (PET-CT) has been used as a molecular level biomarker for the presence of metabolically active proinflammatory macrophages in rupture-prone early atherosclerotic plaques. We hypothesized that 18FDG PET-CT imaging would detect arterial inflammation and early atherosclerosis in HIV-infected adults with modest CVD risk. Methods We studied 9 HIV-infected participants with fully suppressed HIV viremia on antiretroviral therapy (8 men, median age 52?yrs, median BMI 29?kg/m2, median CD4 count 655 cells/μL, 33% current smokers) and 5 HIV-negative participants (4 men, median age 44?yrs, median BMI 25?kg/m2, no current smokers). Mean Framingham Risk Scores were higher for HIV-infected persons (9% vs. 2%, p?