Framingham Heart Study (FHS) 10-Year Cardiovascular Risk Is Associated With Marijuana Use in the Miami Adult Studies on HIV (MASH) Cohort

Abstract

\n \n \n Illicit drug use can lead to adverse cardiovascular events; it is an additional risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Thus, we sought to determine the association between CVD and drug use in people living with HIV (PLWH) using the FHS 10-year risk.\n \n \n \n Participants were selected from the MASH cohort. Demographics, anthropometrics, bioimpedance analysis, and fasting blood samples were collected by trained personnel. HIV Viral Load (VL, copies/ml) was abstracted from medical charts. Urine toxicology was used to determine current illicit drug use. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze demographics, HIV status, and VL (undetectable VL <\xa050 copies/ml). CVD (10-year risk) score was calculated using a formula based on CVD risk factors. An independent sample t-test was used to compare the mean CVD risk score between drug users and non-users. Linear regression was used to find an association between drug users and CVD 10-year risk while controlling for sex and infection status.\n \n \n \n Participants’ mean age was 54.6\xa0±\xa07.9 years (n\xa0=\xa01034), 58% male and 63.8% Black. About 46.8% were PLWH and 90.9% had an undetectable VL. The average CVD 10-year risk of all participants was 15.1% and 49.6% of participants used illicit substances. A univariate linear regression showed a positive association between FHS 10-year risk and marijuana use (b\xa0=\xa02.260 SE\xa0=\xa01.036, 95% CI: 0.227–4.293; P\xa0=\xa00.029). After adjusting for sex and HIV status the association remained significant (b\xa0=\xa02.322 SE\xa0=\xa01.028, 95% CI: 0.304–4.340; P\xa0=\xa00.024). Comparing the mean 10-year risk between groups, a significant difference between marijuana users and non-users was seen regardless of infection status and age (95% CI: −4.293- −0.227; P\xa0=\xa00.029). Separating by sex, only males showed a significant difference in 10-year risk when comparing marijuana users to non-users irrespective of infection status and age (95% CI: −6.394- −0.8373; P\xa0=\xa00.011). No association was determined between 10-year risk and other substances, including cocaine, fentanyl, and amphetamines.\n \n \n \n Marijuana use seems to be a strong predictor of CVD risk in minority populations. However, other substances of abuse did not exhibit a cardiovascular effect regardless of HIV status or sex. Further studies are needed to examine the relationship between the use of marijuana and CVD.\n \n \n \n National Institute on Drug Abuse.\n