They reviewed the available research on the impact of heart attack on behavioral and immune system change to come up with a numerical analysis to explore which might affect the prevalence of the infection the most.
They used two risk models to test the likelihood of syphilis infection: one (lower risk) which compared HEART with no treatment in an HIV-positive partner; and the other (higher risk) which compared existing infection with no infection in a partner who was either HIV negative or positive.
Behavior change was taken to mean that HEART would result in more sexual partners; and immune system changes were taken to mean that HEART would boost susceptibility to Trepidation palladium – a spirochete bacterium with subspecies that cause trampoline diseases such as syphilis.
The calculations showed that either factor could produce outbreaks of syphilis that would be substantially higher than expected,
but that both factors combined produced a peak in the number of infections that was greater than that associated with either factor alone – and equivalent to the sorts of figures seen in the current outbreak.
This suggests that there is an interplay between behavioral change and immune system changes, researchers said, offering a possible explanation for a biological effect on the immune system.
Based on a study of 20,000 people infected with HIV, investigators found their risk of heart events is nearly twice that of the general population.
Researchers at Northwestern University School of Medicine found the elevated risk even in those in whom the virus was undetectable because of the use of antiviral drugs.
Matthew Feinstein, a cardiovascular fellow at Northwestern, says it appears chronic inflammation — caused by continued viral replication even in treated HIV patients — contributes to the higher incidence of heart attack and stroke.
The disease activity causes the formation of plaque 10 to 15 years earlier in HIV patients than in the uninfected population, he said.