Sex Differences in Subclinical Atherosclerosis and Systemic Immune Activation/Inflammation Among People With Human Immunodeficiency Virus in the United States

Figures

• 

  Figure 1.. Prevalence of plaque outcomes by sex and ASCVD risk score. Among all participants, females (compared with males) had a lower prevalence of any plaque, NCP, VP, NC/V-P, and CAC >0. Females also had a lower prevalence of plaque, NCP, VP, NC/V-P, and CAC >0 when grouped by ASCVD risk score (eg, <2.5%, <5%, <7.5%— categories cumulative not mutually exclusive). Abbreviations: ASCVD, atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease; CA, calcified plaque; CAC, coronary artery calcium; NCP, noncalcified plaque; NC/V-P, noncalcified portion or vulnerable features; VP, vulnerable plaque feature.

• 

  Figure 2.. Risk of plaque outcomes (females compared with males). Restricted to participants with biomarker and flow data available. For females (compared with males), the prevalence of any plaque was lower in unadjusted analyses and in sequential analyses adjusting for ASCVD risk score, ASCVD risk score and BMI, ASCVD risk score and metabolic syndrome, individual CVD risk factors, individual CVD risk factors and BMI, or ASCVD risk score and HIV-specific risk factors. The prevalence of NC/V-P was lower in females in unadjusted analyses and in analyses adjusting for ASCVD risk score and BMI, individual CVD risk factors, individual CVD risk factors and BMI, or ASCVD risk score and HIV-specific risk factors. The prevalence of CAC >0 was lower among females in unadjusted analyses and in analyses adjusting either for individual CVD risk factors or for individual CVD risk factors and BMI. 1Metabolic syndrome was defined as presence of any 3 or more of elevated waist circumference, elevated triglycerides, reduced high HDL cholesterol, elevated blood pressure, and elevated fasting glucose. Sex- and population-specific thresholds were applied to classify waist circumference as elevated according to…

• 

  Figure 3.. Immune–plaque relationships, adjusted log binomial regression in single biomarkers, overall and by sex. Adjusted for ASCVD risk score. Effect sizes are estimated per 25% increase in the biomarker. Notably, among females, but not among males, higher levels of D-dimer were associated with higher prevalence of NC/V-P. 1The validity of the model fit for IL-6 and hs-CRP is questionable for females. Abbreviations: ASCVD, atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease; CI, confidence interval; Est., estimated; hs-CRP, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein; IL-6, interleukin 6; Lp-PLA2, lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2; MCP-1, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1; NCP, noncalcified plaque; NC/V-P, noncalcified portion or vulnerable features; oxLDL, oxidized LDL; sCD14, soluble CD14; sCD163, soluble CD163.

• 

  Figure 4.. Central illustration highlighting sex differences in subclinical atherosclerosis and systemic immune activation/inflammation among with people with HIV in the U.S. Abbreviations: CAC, coronary artery calcium; HIV, human immunodeficiency virus; hs-CRP, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein; IL-6, interleukin 6; Lp-PLA2, lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2; NC/V-P, noncalcified portion or vulnerable features.