Increased systemic inflammation is associated with cardiac and vascular dysfunction over the first 12 weeks of antiretroviral therapy among undernourished, HIV-infected adults in Southern Africa.

Persistent systemic inflammation is associated with mortality among undernourished, HIV-infected adults starting antiretroviral therapy (ART) in sub-Saharan Africa, but the etiology of these deaths is not well understood. We hypothesized that greater systemic inflammation is accompanied by cardiovascular dysfunction over the first 12 weeks of ART.