Castelli Risk Index, Atherogenic Index of Plasma, and Atherogenic Coefficient: Emerging Risk Predictors of Cardiovascular Disease in HIV-Treated Patients

Abstract: Atherogenic cardiovascular risk assessment is important in the

management of dyslipidaemia associated with antiretroviral therapy (ART).

Generally, Castelli‟s Risk Index (CRI), Atherogenic Index of Plasma (AIP) and

Atherogenic coefficient (AC) are becoming useful indices as risk predictors for

cardiovascular disease (CVD). We studied the importance of these indices in

identifying at-risk HIV individuals receiving treatment. Eighty (80) HIV-patients

comprising treatment (n=40) and treatment-naïve (n=40) groups with age- and sexmatched

were enrolled. Traditional lipid parameters {Total cholesterol (TC),

Triglycerol (TG), and HDLc} were analyzed using spectrophotometry. The LDLc

was calculated using Friedewald equation. Non-HDLc, CRI-I (TC/HDLc ratio) and

CRI-II (LDLc/HDLc ratio), AIP {Log10 (TG/HDL-c)} and AC {(Non-

HDLc)/HDLc} were also calculated. The CD4+ cell count was determined using

flow cytometry. The correlations between atherogenic indices and lipid profile

were determined using Pearson‟s correlation. P < 0.05 was considered as

significant. Risk estimation by stratification based on number of altered lipid

profile parameter showed no significant increase (P>0.05) in any of the traditional

lipid profile parameters except for HDLc with significant elevation (P