Bone marrow macrophage iron grade and survival of HIV-seropositive patients

OBJECTIVE: Increased iron stores predispose to certain microbial infections. This association might be especially important in patients whose immune system is impaired by HIV. This study examined the relationship between iron stores and the survival times of patients with HIV infection. DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of iron stores, as determined directly in bone marrow aspirates, and of hospital records. SETTING: The George Washington University Hospital, an urban academic tertiary care institution. PATIENTS: Three hundred and forty-eight HIV-seropositive adults who had diagnostic bone marrow aspirates between January 1985 and June 1996. MEASUREMENTS: Bone marrow macrophage iron stores were graded on a scale of 0 to 5. For analysis of the influence of iron stores on survival, we compared patients with grades 4-5 iron stores (markedly or massively increased; n = 188) to those with grades 0-2 iron stores (normal or decreased; n = 130). RESULTS: Infections caused by Candida spp., Pneumocystis carinii, and Mycobacterium spp. were more common in patients with high macrophage iron grades than in patients with low or normal iron grades (P < or = 0.006). The adjusted estimated rate of death (hazards ratio) was higher in patients with high iron stores compared with patients with low or normal iron stores, both from the time of the bone marrow study (ratio of 2.1; 95% confidence interval 1.3-3.5; P = 0.003) and the determination of HIV-seropositivity (ratio of 2.8; 95% confidence interval 1.4-4.9; P = 0.001). CONCLUSION: High iron stores, as determined by bone marrow macrophage iron grade, may be associated with shorter survival times in patients with HIV infection.