Table 4. Distribution of neuroendocrine biomarkers by HIV serostatus (n = 90).
| Overall (n = 90) | WLWH (n = 56) | HIV-negative women (n = 34) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| median (IQR) | median (IQR) | median (IQR) | p | |
| HPA axis biomarkers | ||||
| Cortisol (μg/g creatinine) | 9.3 (5.7–18.9) | 7.8 (5.1–17.1) | 12.0 (6.3–22.8) | 0.12 |
| DHEA-S (μg/dL) | 58 (35–89) | 47 (28–76.5) | 73 (59–99) | 0.0048 |
| SNS biomarkers | ||||
| Epinephrine (μg/g creatinine)a | UD (UD-3.7) | UD (UD-3.3) | UD (UD-4.3) | 0.83 |
| Norepinephrine (μg/g creatinine) | 31.1 (21.1–43.9) | 28.2 (19.3–41.9) | 33.3 (21.3–43.9) | 0.40 |
| n (%) | n (col %) | n (col %) | p | |
| Composite neuroendocrine biomarker index b | 0.47c | |||
| 0 | 33 (36.7) | 22 (39.3) | 11 (32.4) | |
| 1 | 32 (35.6) | 17 (30.4) | 15 (44.1) | |
| 2 | 16 (17.8) | 12 (21.4) | 4 (11.8) | |
| 3 | 8 (8.9) | 4 (7.1) | 4 (11.8) | |
| 4 | 1 (1.1) | 1 (1.8) | 0 (0) |
Abbreviations: DHEA-S, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate; HPA, hypothalamic pituitary adrenal; IQR, interquartile range; SNS, sympathetic nervous system; UD, undetectable; WLWH, women living with HIV; col, column.
a Fifty-two participants (58%) had epinephrine concentrations less than the lower limit of quantification (i.e., <2 μg per L urine).
b Calculated as the number of the four neuroendocrine biomarkers in the highest risk quartile (i.e., the upper quartile for cortisol, epinephrine, and norepinephrine, and the lower quartile for DHEA-S).
c The p-value for the composite neuroendocrine biomarker index was obtained using Fisher’s exact testing.