Role of antioxidants in reducing heart disease in HIV-infected patients

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is an important complication of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. It is now being reported with greater frequency, since a necropsy study first described cardiac involvement in an acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) patient (1). So far, cardiac abnormalities are found at autopsy in two-thirds of patients with AIDS, but they are often not detected by clinical examination. Although the cause and pathogenesis of CVD remain unresolved in many situations, opportunistic infections, vasculitis, hypoxia, catecholamine excess, and nutritional deficiencies have been suggested (2).