Relationship of vitamin D, HIV, HIV treatment, and lipid levels in the women's interagency HIV study of HIV-infected and uninfected women in the United States

Relationships between vitamin D, lipids, HIV infection, and HIV treatment (±antiretroviral therapy [ART]) were investigated with Women's Interagency HIV Study data (n = 1758 middle-aged women) using multivariable regression. Sixty-three percent of women had vitamin D deficiency. Median 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OH vitamin D) was highest in HIV-infected + ART-treated women (17 ng/mL; P <.001) and was the same in HIV-uninfected or HIV-infected women without ART (14 ng/mL). Vitamin D levels were lower if efavirenz (EFV) was included in ART (15 versus 19 ng/mL; P <.001). The most common lipid abnormality was high triglycerides (≥ 200 mg/dL) in HIV-infected + ART-treated women (13% versus 7% of HIV-infected without ART and 5% of HIV-uninfected; P <.001), with a positive relationship between 25-OH vitamin D and triglycerides (95% confidence interval 0.32-1.69; P <.01). No relationships between 25-OH vitamin D and cholesterol were detected. Vitamin D deficiency is common irrespective of HIV status but influenced by HIV treatment. Similarly, vitamin D levels were positively related to triglycerides only in ART-treated HIV-infected women and unrelated to cholesterol.