Falasca K, Reale, M, Nicola M, et al. - Researchers examined the circulating levels of CD40 ligand (CD40 L), Dickkopf-1 (DKK-1) and P-selectin in 80 HIV-infected patients, 14 (17.5%) of whom had diabetes mellitus and 32 (40.0%) of whom had arterial hypertension. In addition, they assessed the correlations of these levels and their contributions to cardiovascular risk in these patients. They used enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to determine CD40L, DKK-1 and P-selectin levels. Findings revealed significantly higher circulating levels of both CD40L and DKK-1, which were linearly and directly correlated, among HIV-infected patients vs HIV-negative patients. Lower levels of both CD40L and DKK-1 were observed in the presence of diabetes, whereas higher levels of CD40L were observed with the presence of hypertension.