Impact of HIV infection and treatment with highly active retroviral therapy on reverse cholesterol transport

艾滋病毒已被发现与心血管疾病的风险增加有关。采用新的艾滋病毒治疗方法大大降低了艾滋病毒感染者的发病率和死亡率，但矛盾的是，心血管并发症变得更加频繁和严重。目前尚不清楚心血管风险的增加是由于长期存在的艾滋病毒还是由于治疗的影响。在这两种情况下，HIV和/或治疗的主要并发症是动脉粥样硬化的迅速发展。动脉粥样硬化是一半以上心脏病的病因，在西方社会是导致死亡的主要原因。当胆固醇沉积在动脉壁上，导致脂肪斑块的形成并限制血液流动时，动脉粥样硬化就发生了。HIV及其治疗对动脉粥样硬化发展的影响机制尚不清楚。该项目旨在调查艾滋病毒感染及其治疗如何以及为什么导致心血管疾病风险增加。

HIV has been found to be associated with increased risk of cardiovascular diseases. The introduction of new treatment for HIV resulted in a dramatic improvement in morbidity and mortality of HIV-infected patients, but paradoxically cardiovascular complications became more frequent and severe. It is not currently clear whether increased cardiovascular risk is due to long lasting HIV or due to the impact of therapy. In both cases a major complication of HIV and-or therapy is rapid development of atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is the cause of more than half of heart diseases, which is a leading cause of death in Western societies. Atherosclerosis develops when cholesterol is deposited within artery walls, causing the formation of a fatty plaque and restricting blood flow. The mechanism behind the effect of HIV and its treatment on development of atherosclerosis is unknown. This project is designed to investigate how and why HIV infection and its treatment results in this increased risk of cardiovascular disease.