Metabolic and cardiovascular complications of highly active antiretroviral therapy for HIV infection

Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) regimens, especially those including protease inhibitors have been shown to cause, in a high proportion of HIV-infected patients, a metabolic syndrome (lipodystrophy/lipoatrophy, dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes mellitus, insulin resistance) that may be associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. A careful stratification of the cardiovascular risk of HIV-infected patients under HAART is needed according to the most recent clinical guidelines.