Epidemiology of Kidney Disease in People Living with HIV in Türkiye; Comorbidities and Drug Toxicities are Emerging Problems

INTRODUCTION/OBJECTIVE: To reveal the epidemiology of kidney disease (KD) in people living with HIV (PWLH) and to report the antiretroviral treatment (ART) management in case of kidney disease. METHODS: This multicenter, retrospective observational study identified KD under four categories: acute kidney disease (AKD), chronic kidney disease (CKD), accelerated decline of glomerular filtration rate (GFR > 60 mL/min), and asymptomatic kidney disease indicated by markers of kidney damage. Clinical characteristics and etiological causes of KD in patients were evaluated. RESULTS: Among 2092 PLWH screened, 131 patients (6.26%) had at least one form of KD. All patients with KD were Caucasian; 112 (84.5%) were male, with a median age of 51 [range 21-80] years. The most common comorbidities were hyperlipidemia (43.5%), diabetes mellitus (33.6%), and hypertension (26.9%). AKD developed in 20 patients (0.95%), CKD in 35 patients (1.67%), accelerated GFR decline in 69 patients (3.29%), and asymptomatic KD in 7 patients (0.33%). Regarding the etiological causes, 39.7% of KD cases were attributed to ART-related nephrotoxicity, 21.4% to HIV-related nephropathy, 19.8% to comorbidity-associated KD, and 6.9% to non-ART drug nephrotoxicity. ART regimen modification was performed in 39 patients (29.6%) with ARTrelated nephropathy. Lamivudine-based ART required fewer treatment changes (9.5%) than tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (38.1%) or tenofovir alafenamide (36.4%) (P = 0.04). DISCUSSION: ART-related nephrotoxicity and comorbidity-associated kidney diseases are emerging challenges in the epidemiology of KD among PLWH. CONCLUSION: Lamivudine-based ART regimens appear to be favorable in cases of KD development, showing a greater likelihood of preserving the initial treatment regimen.