Search

Objective. To determine whether 24 hr dietary recalls (DR) are a good measure of polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) intake when compared to plasma levels, and whether plasma PUFA is associated with markers of HIV/AIDS progression and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk.Methods. In a cross-sectional study among 210 antiretroviral therapy-naïve HIV-infected adults from Lusaka, Zambia, we collected data on medical history and dietary intake using 24 hr DR. We measured fatty acids and markers of AIDS progression and CVD risk in fasting plasma collected at baseline.Results. PUFA intakes showed modest correlations with corresponding plasma levels; Spearman correlations were 0.36(p<0.01)for eicosapentaenoic acid and 0.21(p=0.005)for docosahexaenoic acid. While there were no significant associations(p>0.05)between total plasma PUFA and C-reactive protein (CRP) or lipid levels, plasma arachidonic acid was inversely associated with CRP and triglycerides and positively associated with HDL-C, CD4+ T-cell count, and plasma albumin(p<0.05). Plasma saturated fatty acids (SFA) were positively associated with CRP (β= 0.24; 95% CI: 0.08 to 0.40,p=0.003) and triglycerides (β= 0.08; 95% CI: 0.03 to 0.12,p<0.01).Conclusions. Our data suggest that a single DR is inadequate for assessing PUFA intake and that plasma arachidonic acid levels may modulate HIV/AIDS progression and CVD risk.

Background. Low body mass index (BMI) at antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation is associated with early mortality, but the etiology is not well understood. We hypothesized that low pretreatment serum phosphate, a critical cellular metabolism intermediate primarily stored in skeletal muscle, may predict mortality within the first 12 weeks of ART. Methods. We prospectively studied 352 HIV-infected adults initiating ART in Lusaka, Zambia to estimate the odds of death for each 0.1 mmol/L decrease in baseline phosphate after adjusting for established predictors of mortality. Results. The distribution of phosphate values was similar across BMI categories (median value 1.2 mmol/L). Among the 145 participants with BMI 18.5 kg/m 2, 28 (19%) died within 12 weeks. Lower pretreatment serum phosphate was associated with increased mortality (odds ratio (OR) 1.24 per 0.1 mmol/L decrement, 95% CI: 1.05 to 1.47; ) after adjusting for sex, age, and CD4 + lymphocyte count. A similar relationship was not observed among participants with BMI ≥18.5 kg/m 2 (OR 0.96, 95% CI: 0.76 to 1.21; ). Conclusions. The association of low pretreatment serum phosphate level and early ART mortality among undernourished individuals may represent a variant of the refeeding syndrome. Further studies of cellular metabolism in this population are needed.