Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has considerably improved survival of HIV-infected patients. Opportunist diseases and cancers linked to immunodepression have largely regressed. Challenge is now the management of cardio-vascular diseases, nephrologic, neurologic, osteo-articular diseases, chronic hepatitis and cancer no linked to immunodepression. All this comorbidities are more reported in HIV-infected patients than in general non-HIV infected patients. Those are directly linked to the effect of chronic HIV-infection on ageing, metabolic effects of HAART, and way of life characterising this population. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) results from tobacco consumption. Bronchial chronic infection, immunity, and ageing are also involved in the physiopathology of COPD. This disease has never been evaluated in a large prospective cohort of HIV-infected patients whereas there is a known increase of tobacco consumption and pulmonary infection in this population regardless to the general population. Characterisation of COPD disease in HIV patients will allow us to make an hypothetic epidemiological link between HIV- HAART and COPD independently of tobacco consumption, and to study different physiopathologic hypothesis evocated in COPD genesis, like an accelerate pulmonary ageing.