Are circulating cardiac specific autoantibodies associated with the pathogenesis of heart muscle disease and the development of left ventricular dysfunction in HIV positive individuals?
Cardiac autoantibodies may serve as markers for the development of left ventricular dysfunction in HIV-positive patients.
There is an increased frequency of circulating cardiac specific autoantibodies in HIV positive individuals, particularly those with heart muscle disease. The data support a role for cardiac autoimmunity in the pathogenesis of HIV related heart muscle disease, and suggest that cardiac autoantibodies may be markers of the development of left ventricular dysfunction in HIV positive patients with normal hearts.
Currie et al. (Mon,) studied this question.