HIV Infection and Associated Comorbidities
Summary
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection has evolved into a chronic condition managed through lifelong antiretroviral therapy (ART). As life expectancy has increased, so has the burden of associated comorbidities beyond opportunistic infections. People living with HIV commonly experience cardiovascular disease, metabolic disturbances such as weight gain and dyslipidaemia, chronic kidney disease, bone demineralisation and a higher incidence of certain malignancies. Underlying drivers include residual immune activation, persistent inflammation, ageing, antiretroviral drug–related toxicities and traditional risk factors such as smoking and sedentary lifestyles. These factors interact to accelerate non-AIDS complications and contribute to polypharmacy, necessitating integrated models of care that address both HIV management and co-existing chronic diseases across diverse settings.
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HIV Infection and Associated Comorbidities publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in hiv infection and associated comorbidities across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Comorbidity: The simultaneous presence of two or more chronic conditions in a single individual, which may interact and influence overall health outcomes.
Antiretroviral therapy (ART): A combination of medicines used to suppress HIV replication, restore immune function and reduce the risk of HIV-related and non-HIV-related complications.
Viral suppression: Reduction of HIV RNA in the bloodstream to levels undetectable by standard laboratory assays, indicating effective control of viral replication.
Integrase strand transfer inhibitor (INSTI): A class of antiretroviral drugs that blocks the HIV integrase enzyme, preventing integration of viral DNA into the host cell genome.
Chronic kidney disease (CKD): A persistent decline in renal function defined by estimated glomerular filtration rate below established thresholds, often progressing over months to years.
Metabolic syndrome: A cluster of interconnected metabolic risk factors—including central obesity, dyslipidaemia, hypertension and insulin resistance—that increase cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.
References
- Integrated management of HIV, diabetes, and hypertension in sub-Saharan Africa (INTE-AFRICA): a pragmatic cluster-randomised, controlled trial. The Lancet (2023).
- Weight gain among treatment‐naïve persons with HIV starting integrase inhibitors compared to non‐nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors or protease inhibitors in a large observational cohort in the United States and Canada. Journal of the International AIDS Society (2020).
- Chronic kidney disease in the global adult HIV-infected population: A systematic review and meta-analysis. PLOS ONE (2018).
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