GlycA: A New Biomarker of Cardiovascular Disease Risk in People Living with HIV

GlycA levels — a particular biomarker for cardiovascular disease risk — showed higher rates among people living with HIV, and also correlated with other biomarkers for the activation of inflammation and indicators of subclinical coronary atherosclerosis, according to data from a study published in AIDS.

Higher levels of GlycA were independently associated with cardiovascular diseases (CVD), diabetes mellitus and hepatitis C infection, as well as all-cause mortality in the general population.

However, it was still not entirely clear whether GlycA is associated with a higher risk of developing subclinical coronary atherosclerosis in people living with HIV.

In this study, researchers analyzed the links between GlycA and subclinical coronary plaque in groups of people living with HIV and HIV-negative.

935 people took part in the work on measuring the level of calcium in the coronary artery; 715 of them also underwent contrast coronary tomography angiography in order to assess vascular occlusion and the degree of coronary stenosis.

In this group, GlycA levels were higher in people living with HIV (397 ± 68 vs. 380 ± 60 µmol / L in HIV-negative; p = 0.0001).

GlycA levels were also higher in the PLHIV subgroup with detectable viral load compared with PLWHIV in whose blood the virus was not detected (413 ± 79 vs. 393 ± 65 μmol / L, respectively; P = 0.004).

After adjusting for serostatus factors, demographic and cardiovascular risks, GlycA levels were directly associated with high calcium levels in the coronary artery (prevalence rate 1.09; 95% CI, 1.03-1.15) and coronary stenosis (prevalence rate 1.20; CI 95%, 1.02-1.41).

When adjusted for more traditional inflammatory biomarkers or serological status of HIV, the data obtained did not change significantly.

"Our study suggests the potential use of GlycA to stratify the risks of cardiovascular disease in patients with HIV," the researchers concluded, stressing at the same time that this issue requires a longer and deeper study.