How Might CD4-Mediated Endothelial Dysfunction Cause Hypertension in People Living With HIV?

Experiments in transgenic mice suggest that CD4 cells expressing HIV proteins cause hypertension in PLWH by impairing endothelial-mediated vascular relaxation.

Antiretroviral therapy has markedly lengthened the lifespans of people living with HIV (PLWH), and many PLWH in the U.S. now have hypertension; moreover, their blood pressure is correlated with CD4 lymphocyte counts. In experiments with transgenic mice that immunologically mimic the virologically controlled conditions similar to those in PLWH on antiretroviral therapy, investigators tested the hypothesis that CD4 cells expressing HIV proteins may contribute to endothelial cell dysfunction and subsequent hypertension.

The mice exhibited hypertension and impaired vasorelaxation upon experimental challenge with acetylcholine. Bone marrow transplantation from wild type to transgenic mice restored normal blood pressure; this phenotypic transfer w…

Reviewing Author

George Sakoulas, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardParatek Pharmaceuticals; Nestle Corp.; AbbVie; Shionogi

Speaker’s BureauAllergan/AbbVie; Paratek Pharmaceuticals; Nestle Corp.

RoyaltiesUpToDate

Editorial BoardsAntimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy; Open Forum Infectious Diseases