Major Depressive Disorder Increases Acute MI Risk in Patients With HIV

HealthDay News — For adults with HIV, major depressive disorder (MDD) is associated with an increased risk of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), according to a study published online in JAMA Cardiology.

Tasneem Khambaty, PhD, from the University of Miami in Coral Gables, and colleagues examined whether depressive disorders are associated with incident AMI in a cohort of 26,144 veterans with HIV and cardiovascular disease (CVD). At baseline, 19% of veterans had MDD and 9% had dysthymic disorder.

The researchers noted that there were 490 AMI events (1.9%) during 5.8 years of follow-up. After adjustment for demographics, CVD risk factors, and HIV-specific factors, baseline MDD correlated with incident AMI (hazard ratios, 1.31 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.05 to 1.62], 1.29 [95% CI, 1.04 to 1.60], and 1.30 [95% CI, 1.05 to 1.62], respectively). The associations were attenuated after further adjustment for hepatitis C, renal disease, substance abuse, and hemoglobin level (hazard ratio, 1.25; 95% CI, 1.00 to 1.56) and antidepressant use (hazard ratio, 1.12; 95% CI, 0.87 to 1.42). There was no correlation for baseline dysthymic disorder with incident AMI.

“Our findings raise the possibility that MDD may be independently associated with incident atherosclerotic CVD in the HIV-infected population,” the authors write.

One of the researchers reported receiving grants and/or other forms of funding from Merck & Co, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Theratechnologies, and Gilead Sciences. Another researchers reported receiving grants from Gilead and AbbVie.

Reference

1. Khambat, Steward JC, Gupta SK, et al.  Incident Acute Myocardial Infarction in Human Immunodeficiency Virus–Infected AdultsVeterans Aging Cohort Study. JAMA Cardiol. 2016; doi:10.1001/jamacardio.2016.2716.