Iantorno M, et al. - Researchers investigated whether abnormal coronary endothelial function (CEF), an early marker and mediator of atherosclerosis, is related to the amount of local pericoronary epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) in HIV. For this purpose, they examined 36 participants with HIV and no coronary artery disease (CAD) (HIV+CAD-), 15 participants with HIV and known CAD (HIV+CAD+), and 14 age-matched, healthy participants without HIV (HIV-CAD-). They measured CEF and EAT by using coronary MRI. They observed a significant association between increased metabolically-active EAT and depressed local CEF in people with HIV. This finding was found to be consistent with the presumption that, in persons with HIV, higher epicardial fat contributes to accelerated CAD.