Decreased telomere length in the small airway epithelium suggests accelerated aging in the lungs of persons living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)

Table 1 Characteristics of the study cohort

Characteristic	PLWH (n = 24)	HIV- (n = 41)	p-value
Age	58.13 ± 9.14	62.59 ± 6.70	0.044
Male sex (%)	20 (83%)	23 (56%)	0.031
FEV1 (% Predicted)	76.79 ± 15.84	76.24 ± 24.02	0.579
FEV1/FVC (%)	68.57 ± 12.70	66.39 ± 15.43	0.697
Smoking status
Current	12 (50%)	19 (46%)	0.184
Former	10 (42%)	22 (54%)
Never	2 (8%)	0
Smoking Pack-Years	29.54 ± 31.09	48.98 ± 13.53	< 0.001
Undetectable Plasma HIV Viral Load	17 (71%)	–	–
CD4 Count (cells/mm³)	462 ± 306	–	–
Telomere Length (kbp/genome)	108.13 ± 45.51	171.53 ± 52.20	< 0.001

ISSN: 1465-993X