EVALUATION OF BONE MINERAL DENSITY AND CORRELATIONS
WITH INFLAMMATION MARKERS IN ROMANIAN HIV-POSITIVE
PATIENTS UNDERGOING COMBINED ANTIRETROVIRAL
THERAPY
DANIELA MUNTEANU1#*, ANCA NEGRU1#, RALUCA MIHĂILESCU1#, CĂTĂLIN TILIȘCAN1,2#, ANA-MARIA TUDOR1,2#, MIHAI LAZĂR1,2#, ȘTEFAN SORIN ARAMĂ2#, DANIELA ION2#, CRISTINA POPESCU1,2#, VICTORIA ARAMĂ1,2#
1“Prof. Dr. Matei Balș” National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Bucharest, Romania
2“Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania
*corresponding author: danielaioana.mn@gmail.com
#All authors had equal contributions in writing this paper.
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Abstract:
The aim of this study was to evaluate the correlations between inflammation and bone mineral density (BMD) in HIV
patients undergoing combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) and the risk for BMD disturbances. We performed a crosssectional
study on HIV positive (HIV+) patients, from “Matei Balș” National Institute of Infectious Disease, between June
2008 - 2010. Blood samples were analysed for tumour necrosis (TNF)-alpha, interleukin (IL)-6, C reactive protein (CRP). All
patients had dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scan. We enrolled 56 HIV patients, 59% males, with median age of 28
years. According to the T-score, 20% had low BMD, 16% osteopenia and 4% osteoporosis. We divided the patients into 2
groups according to the sex. We found direct correlations between T-score and body mass index (BMI) in males and between
T-score and CRP in females. There were no correlations between T-score and standard antiretroviral therapy (ART) duration
or the number of cART regimens. There were no differences in T-score for patients with/without protease inhibitors (PI)/nonnucleoside
reverse-transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTI) regimens. There is a low prevalence of decreased BMD in young HIV
patients undergoing cART. In males, the main risk factor was low BMI. Many patients had systemic inflammation despite
effective cART, but there was no correlation between BMD and inflammation.

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