Table 3. Clinical and HIV-related parameters stratified by telomere shortening (TS) in patients <50 years.
| No ST (N=38) | ST (N=31) | P | |
| Age, yrs [mean (SD)] | 38.82 (6.86) | 42.77 (5.16) | 0.010 |
| Sex [male (%)] | 32 (84.2) | 27 (87.1) | 1.00 |
| Transmission group, (%) | 0.371 | ||
| Homosexual/bisexual | 24 (63.2) | 17 (54.8) | |
| Heterosexual | 8 (21.1) | 11 (35.5) | |
| Intravenous drug users | 4 (10.5) | 3 (9.7) | |
| Others/unknown | 2 (5.3) | 0 (0.0) | |
| Type 2 diabetes, n (%) | 0 (0.0) | 2 (6.5) | 0.386 |
| Hypertension, n (%) | 2 (5.3) | 3 (9.7) | 0.813 |
| Dyslipidemia, n (%) | 10 (26.3) | 6 (19.4) | 0.693 |
| Smoker, n (%) | 0.712 | ||
| Nonsmoker | 18 (47.4) | 13 (43.3) | |
| Current smoker | 19 (50.0) | 15 (50.0) | |
| Past smoker | 1 (2.6) | 2 (6.7) | |
| Drug user, n (%) | 6 (16.7) | 2 (6.7) | 0.389 |
| Exercise, n (%) | 0.992 | ||
| No exercise | 12 (34.3) | 11 (37.9) | |
| Mild | 5 (14.3) | 4 (13.8) | |
| Moderate | 8 (22.9) | 6 (20.7) | |
| Intensive | 10 (28.6) | 8 (27.6) | |
| Coronary heart disease, n (%) | |||
| Carotid plaques, n (%) | 0 (0.0) | 2 (6.9) | 0.392 |
| Carotid SCA, n (%) | 8 (22.9) | 9 (31.0) | 0.651 |
| Left carotid bulb IMT mm* | 0.77 [0.63, 0.87] | 0.86 [0.73, 0.90] | 0.071 |
| Left common carotid IMT* | 0.56 [0.50, 0.64] | 0.60 [0.53, 0.70] | 0.048 |
| Framingham risk score* | 1.00 [1.00, 2.00] | 2.00 [1.00, 3.00] | 0.052 |
| Stroke, n (%) | 1 (2.6) | 0 (0.0) | 1.00 |
| Hepatitis C virus Ab, n (%) | 2 (5.6) | 4 (12.9) | 0.534 |
| SVS, n (%) | |||
| No SVS | |||
| Yes SVS | |||
| Others/unknown | |||
| HBSAg (%) | 1 (11.1) | 0 (0.0) | 1.00 |
| CD4 nadir* | 290.00 [169.00, 448.00] | 256.00 [54.50, 381.50] | 0.164 |
| CDC HIV stage, n (%) | 0.166 | ||
| Stage A | 21 (60.0) | 11 (37.9) | |
| Stage B | 8 (22.9) | 8 (27.6) | |
| Stage C | 6 (17.1) | 10 (34.5) | |
| AIDS (%) | 6 (15.8) | 11 (35.5) | 0.108 |
| On ART, n (%) | 0.874 | ||
| Protease inhibitor, n (%) | 6 (15.8) | 8 (25.8) | 0.466 |
| NNRTI, n (%) | 16 (42.1) | 10 (32.3) | 0.555 |
| Integrase inhibitor, n (%) | 18 (47.4) | 16 (51.6) | 0.913 |
| Other ART combination (%) | 5 (13.2) | 4 (13.3) | 1.00 |
| Time on ART, yrs [mean (SD)] | 3.17 [1.79, 4.99] | 2.80 [1.69, 6.97] | 0.800 |
| BMI* | 26.48 [23.61, 28.56] | 25.83 [23.09, 28.11] | 0.708 |
| Glomerular filtration mL/min* | 89.95 [85.79, 95.66] | 92.03 [75.22, 101.96] | 0.818 |
| Glucose level-mg/dL* | 90.00 [84.00, 97.00] | 90.00 [85.00, 99.50] | 0.575 |
| Total cholesterol level-mg/dL* | 176.00 [157.00, 203.00] | 172.00 [150.50, 211.50] | 0.995 |
| LDL cholesterol level-mg/dL* | 104.00 [80.00, 120.00] | 105.00 [82.00, 136.00] | 0.821 |
| HDL cholesterol level-mg/dL* | 44.00 [38.00, 53.00] | 47.00 [41.00, 53.50] | 0.839 |
| Triglyceride levels-mg/dL* | 119.00 [86.00, 148.00] | 104.00 [84.00, 163.50] | 0.749 |
| CD4+ T-cell count-cells/mL* | 827.0 [434.00, 967.00] | 683.0 [435.00, 931.00] | 0.431 |
| CD4/CD8 ratio* | 0.80 [0.51, 1.09] | 0.80 [0.42, 1.03] | 0.743 |
| Fold TS* | 286.03 [247.28, 389.38] | 150.12 [105.80, 170.08] | <0.001 |
*median [IQR].
SVS, Sustained Viral Suppression; HBSAg, hepatitis B surface antigen; CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; AIDS, acquired immune deficiency syndrome; ART, antiretroviral therapy; BMI, body mass index; HDL, high-density lipoproteins; LDL, low-density lipoproteins; NNRTI, nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor; SCA, subclinical atherosclerosis.