Cardiac morbidity in an HIV-1 lipodystrophy patient cohort expressing the TNF-α-238 G/A single nucleotide gene polymorphism.

In the current study we investigated the prevalence of the TNF-α 238G/A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of the TNF-α gene in the development of lipodystrophy among HIV-1 infected individuals who had been receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) in the immunodeficiency clinics of the National AIDS Research Institute (NARI) at Pune, India. We assessed the association of this SNP with the development of lipoatrophy/dyslipidemia and insulin resistance in these patients and measured carotid intima thickening which is a surrogate marker for chronic cardiac morbidity. Our results show that the incidence of the TNF-α 238G/A SNP is ~ two fold higher in patients with lipodystrophy as compared to those without lipodystrophy.