Association between renal disease and outcomes among HIV-infected women receiving or not receiving antiretroviral therapy.

Background: The associations of proteinuria and an elevated creatinine level with progression to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and death in the era of highly antiretroviral therapy (HAART) have not been fully described.

Methods: This analysis includes 2038 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected women from the Women's Interagency HIV Study. Time to the development of a new AIDS-defining illness (ADI) and death was modeled using proportional hazards regression before the widespread availability of HAART and after initiation of HAART.

Results: Of the 2038 subjects, the 14.1% of women with proteinuria had lower CD4 lymphocyte counts and higher viral loads (P<.0001 for all) at baseline and before initiation of HAART. Before the widespread availability of HAART, proteinuria was associated with an increased risk for development of ADI (hazard ratio [HR], 1.37; P=.005), and proteinuria and an elevated creatinine level were both associated with an increased risk of death (for proteinuria: HR, 1.35 [P=.04]; for creatinine: HR, 1.72 per decrease in the inverse unit [P=.02]). Among women initiating HAART, an elevated creatinine level remained associated with an increased risk of development of ADI (HR, 1.54 per decrease in the inverse unit; P=.03), and proteinuria and an elevated creatinine level were associated with an increased risk of death (for proteinuria: HR, 2.07 [P=.005]; for creatinine: HR, 1.96 per decrease in the inverse unit [P=.04]).

Conclusions: Proteinuria and an elevated creatinine level were associated with an increased risk of death and development of ADI. These associations may reflect the direct role of the kidney in modulating HIV disease, or they may act as markers of greater comorbidity.