Table 1 Baseline characteristic of the study cohort. Median and interquartile range (IQR: 25%-75%) or mean ± SD are reported for continuous variables. Simple frequencies (n) and percentages are reported for categorical variables. Abbreviations: BMI^a, Body mass Index; HR^b, Heart Rate; HDL^c, High Density Lipoprotein; PLWH^d, People living with HIV; NA^e, not applicable

 Male, n (%)

45 (85)

14 (77)

0.129

 Age, Years

48 (42.5-48)

55 (44.5-56)

0.122

 BMI^a, kg/m²

22 (20.3-22)

27 (24–32)

0.116

 HR^b, bpm

67 (±9.1)

65 (±11.3)

0.211

 Systolic blood pressure, mmHg

119 (±10)

114 (±11)

0.131

 Diastolic blood pressure, mmHg

75 (±9)

67 (±6)

0.061

 Total cholesterol, (mg/dl)

189 (177-189)

188 (154–201)

0.557

 HDL^c, (mg/dl)

39 (35-39)

54 (46–66)

0.046

 Triglycerides, (mg/dl)

101 (78-170)

124 (80–177)

0.077

 Diabetes, n (%)

0 (0)

0 (0)

1.000

 Smoking, n (%)

9 (17)

4 (22)

0.686

 Framingham Risk (%)

4 (1-6.5)

3 (1-5)

0.182

 ASCVD 10 years, calculated risk

4.6 (2.7-4.6)

4.6 (1.7-3.5)

0.286

 Years of therapy, Years

9 (6-9)

-

NA^a

 Years of exposure to HIV infection, Years

10 (1-23)

-

NA^a

 CD4 enrolment (cell/μl)

450 (328-750)

-

NA^a

 CD4 nadir (cell/μl)

181 (94-300)

-

NA^a

 % of PLWH^e naïve for cART

12.7

-

NA^a

 HIV-RNA copies/ml in cART treated PLWH

<37

-

NA^a

 HIV-RNA copies/ml in cART naive PLWH

55.000

-

NA^a