PMC

Antiretroviral-untreated patients with undetectable viral loads (HIV controllers) had a higher median carotid IMT than the HIV-seronegative persons, even after controlling for traditional risk factors. Carotid IMT was comparable in the HIV controllers and untreated HIV non-controllers.

Carotid IMT was higher in patients who were receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) than in either antiretroviral untreated patients or HIV-seronegative persons. The effect of HAART remained significant after controlling for traditional risk factors.

Carotid IMT was higher in HIV controllers than HIV-seronegative persons when stratified by age (Panel A), the presence or absence of hypertension (Panel B), and a history of tobacco smoking (Panel C). Carotid IMT was also higher among the controllers than HIV-seronegatives even after restricting the analysis to those with CD4+ T cell counts above 500 cells/mm³ (Panel D).