Anti-Inflammatory Interleukin-10 is Inversely Related to Coronary Atherosclerosis in People with Hiv.

Interleukin-10 (IL-10) is an anti-inflammatory cytokine that may be protective against coronary atherosclerosis. In an observational study of people with HIV (PWH) and uninfected controls, IL-10 was measured in sera by ELISA, and coronary atherosclerosis was assessed by CT angiography. Among PWH, a 10-fold decrease in IL-10 was associated with a 2.6-fold increase in the odds of coronary plaque (p=0.01) after controlling for traditional and non-traditional cardiovascular risk factors. IL-10 was also inversely associated with total coronary plaque (ρ= -0.19, p=0.02) and noncalcified coronary plaque (ρ= -0.24, p=0.004). Our findings suggest a role for IL-10 in mitigating atherosclerosis in PWH.