Perfil lipídico, fatores de risco cardiovascular e síndrome metabólica em um grupo de pacientes com AIDS

background: since the advent of aids, the anti-hiv therapy has developed significantly, including the highly active antiretroviral therapy (haart) and the disease acquired a chronic characteristic. however, after the introduction of haart, several metabolic alterations were observed, mainly related to the lipid profile. objectives: to evaluate and compare lipid profiles, analyze cardiovascular risk, describe the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in aids patients with or without haart. methods: over an 18-month period, 319 patients treated at outpatient clinics in the city of s？o paulo, brazil were selected. results: the final sample included 215 patients receiving haart and 69 haart-naive patients. the mean age was 39.5 years, and 60.9% were males. the main cardiovascular risk factors were smoking (27%), hypertension (18%) and family history of atherosclerosis (40%). mean total cholesterol, hdl-cholesterol, triglycerides and glucose were higher in the haart group than in the non-haart group (205 vs 180 mg/dl, 51 vs 43 mg/dl, 219 vs 164 mg/dl and 101 vs 93 mg/dl respectively; p < 0.001 for all). according to the framingham risk score, the cardiovascular risk was moderate to high in 11% of the patients receiving haart and 4% of the haart-na？ve patients. according to the adult treatment panel iii definition, the metabolic syndrome was observed in 13% and 12% of the patients with or without haart, respectively. conclusions: although the mean values for total cholesterol, hdl-c and triglycerides were higher in the haart group, a higher cardiovascular risk was not identified in the former. the prevalence of metabolic syndrome was comparable in both groups.