Zinc Supplementation and Cardiovascular Risk in HIV

Zinc Supplementation and Cardiovascular Risk in HIV

The purpose of this pilot study is to determine whether zinc supplementation significantly affects immune activation in HIV-infected subjects.

Zinc is a dietary supplement with compelling preclinical evidence for potential health benefit that could be expanded not only to the entire HIV population, but also to other inflammatory conditions that share many facets of HIV infection, namely the persistent intestinal barrier dysfunction, monocyte activation and heightened inflammation state.

Inclusion Criteria:

• HIV-1 infection
• Age ≥18 years
• Zinc level ≤0.75 mg/L
• Receiving a stable antiretroviral regimen with no plans to change during study
• Documentation of an HIV-1 RNA level of ≤400 copies/mL
• No diarrhea or nausea/vomiting for the last month

Exclusion Criteria:

• Pregnancy/lactation
• Presence of inflammatory condition
• Regular use of agents that may affect inflammation in the last 3 months. The regular use of NSAIDS, aspirin, or statins will be allowed as long as dose has been stable for the last 3 months and is not expected to change during the study.
• Presence of active neoplastic diseases requiring chemotherapy and/or use of immunosuppressive drugs
• Known cardiovascular disease
• Uncontrolled diabetes
• Allergy or intolerance to zinc sulfate.
• Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) > 2.5 x Upper limit of normal (ULN)
• Hemoglobin < 9.0 g/dL
• glomerular filtration rate (GFR) < 50 mL/min