In Patients With HIV, Could Statins Help to Prevent ASCVD?

Treatment with a statin could help to improve endothelial function and prevent atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) in individuals with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), according to a recent study.

Risk of developing ASCVD is increased in patients with HIV. While statins are currently being examined as a potential option for ASCVD prevention in this population, their effects on inflammatory and cardiovascular proteins and not yet well understood, according to the study’s authors.

Using the Protein Extension Assay, the researchers examined the effects of pitavastatin treatment on more than 350 plasma proteins associated with ASCVD among individuals with (n = 89) and without (n = 46) HIV. All of the participants had insulin resistance and abdominal adiposity but did not have a history of cardiovascular disease.

When compared at baseline, proteins that affected platelet and endothelial function and immune activation were differentially expressed in individuals with and without HIV. Overall, treatment with pitavastatin was associated with significantly increased enzymatic cleavage of type I procollagen and decreased PLA2G7 in patients with HIV. In those without HIV, integrin subunit alpha M and defensin alpha-1 increased and PLA2G7 decreased following pitavastatin therapy.

“Pitavastatin affected proteins important to platelet and endothelial function and immune activation, and effects differed to a degree within [people with HIV] and participants without HIV,” the researchers concluded.

—Michael Potts

Reference:

deFilippi C, Toribio M, Wong LP, et al. Differential plasma protein regulation and statin effects in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-Infected and non-HIV-infected patients utilizing a proteomics approach. JID. 2020;222(6):929-939. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiaa196