Table 2 Baseline participants’ clinical and laboratory characteristics blindly collated from medical records at the end of the study

Age, years.

42.1 (1.5)

42.3 (8.2)

NS

Male, n (%)

22 (61.1)

105 (73.9)

NS

BMI, kg/m²

22.9 (0.5)

23 (3.2)

NS

Current smokers, n (%)

27 (75.8)

92 (64.6)

NS

Systolic blood pressure, mm Hg

116 (2)

123 (2)

NS

Diastolic blood pressure, mm Hg

77 (1)

78 (1)

NS

Baseline IMT, mm

0.81 (0.03)

0.75 (0.02)

NS

Final IMT, mm

0.81 (0.02)

0.94 (0.02)

<0.0001

Δ IMT, mm

0 (0.01)

0.19 (0.02)

<0.0001

Total cholesterol, mmol/L

4.62 (0.21)

4.63 (0.14)

NS

HDL cholesterol, mmol/L

1.21 (0.05)

1.12 (0.04)

NS

LDL cholesterol, mmol/L

2.44 (0.14)

2.54 (0.12)

NS

Triglycerides, mmol/L

2.42 (0.33)

2.31 (0.29)

NS

Apolipoprotein A I, mmol/L

1.42 (0.04)

1.45 (0.04)

NS

Oxidized-LDL, ng/mL

86.4 (5.3)

98.6 (12.7)

NS

Lipodystrophy, n (%)

23 (63.9)

101 (71.1)

NS

HVC co-infection, n (%)

24 (66.7)

77 (54.2)

NS

hs-CRP, mg/L.

4.4 (0.7)

3.8 (0.7)

NS

Insulin, pmol/L

81.2 (10)

71 (8)

NS

Glucose, mmol/L.

5.4 (0.2)

5.2 (0.4)

NS

HIV-1 RNA < 50 copies/mL, n (%)

28 (77.2)

110 (77.5)

NS

CD4 cell count, cell/mm³

575 (45)

485 (37)

NS

CD8 cell count, cell/mm³

1020 (65)

994 (55)

NS

Δ CD4 cell count, cell/mm³

37 (36)

36 (31)

NS