Elevated `IL-6` and `hs-Troponin` Independently Predict Major Cardiovascular Events in HIV Patients on Statins

Despite effective statin therapy, people with HIV (PWH) face persistent major adverse cardiovascular event (MACE) risk, a critical gap in current prevention strategies. Traditional cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors are often managed, yet a significant residual risk remains, suggesting other underlying mechanisms. Identifying specific immune, inflammatory, cardiac, and lipid-related biomarkers is crucial to better understand and mitigate this elevated risk in PWH, especially given the chronic inflammatory state associated with HIV. This analysis aims to pinpoint key biomarkers linked to this residual cardiovascular risk.

This analysis assessed baseline inflammatory, cardiac, and lipid-related biomarkers in 7,005 participants (out of 7,769 enrolled) from the REPRIEVE global primary cardiovascular prevention trial. The study population comprised contemporary antiretroviral therapy-treated PWH with low-to-moderate predicted CVD risk. Researchers used Cox models to evaluate the relationship between these biomarkers and incident MACE, adjusting for randomized statin treatment and atherosclerotic CVD risk. Population Attributable Fractions (PAFs) were also calculated to quantify the proportion of MACE attributable to each biomarker. The median follow-up duration was 5.6 years.