Figure 5.

Impact of RTV on circulating cystatin C and HO-1 levels in cART-treated, HIV-infected postmenopausal women. Cystatin C was measured in sera and HO-1 in plasma from postmenopausal women, either HIV seronegative, HIV-positive on no antiretroviral (ART) therapy, or HIV-positive on a stable ART regimen for ≥two years. The later involved either a RTV-boosted PI or a non-PI based regimen (primarily non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor- based). (A) HIV infection alone (n=17) was linked to an increase in cystatin C levels compared with age-matched controls (n=19), with a further increase in levels in those HIV+ women treated with RTV-based cART (n=20). (B) eGFR was calculated as described in Methods. The HIV+/RTV group (n= 20) had significantly more moderate renal disease than the HIV- matched controls (n = 27), the HIV+/no ART (n = 27), or the HIV+/non-PI-ART groups (n = 30) (p<0.02). (C) HO-1 levels were no different in women infected with HIV but on no therapy (n=5) vs. HIV negative control women (n=7). RTV-based cART led to a significant rise in HO-1 (n=7), not seen with other cART regimens.