Menopause in HIV-Infected Women
Menopause-Associated Symptoms
The perimenopausal period, which begins on average 4 years prior to the final menstrual period, is characterized by hormonal fluctuations leading to irregular menstrual cycles. Symptoms associated with these physiologic changes during the perimenopausal period include vasomotor symptoms (hot flashes), genitourinary symptoms (vaginal dryness and dyspareunia), anxiety, depression, sleep disturbances, and joint aches [46–53]. Such menopausal symptoms can be distressing, negatively impacting quality of life [54].
It can be difficult to determine which symptoms are caused by the physiologic changes of menopause in HIV-infected women as they have multiple potential reasons for these symptoms, such as antiretroviral therapy, comorbidities, and HIV infection itself [55]. However, several studies clearly show that there are symptoms that occur more commonly in the perimenopausal period and that HIV-infected women experience these symptoms earlier and with greater intensity [38–40,42,56,57]. In a cross-sectional study of 536 women among whom 54% were HIV-infected, Miller et al found that menopausal symptoms were reported significantly more frequently in HIV-infected women compared with non–HIV-infected women [56]. As symptoms can occur in greater intensity and impair quality of life, it is important that providers be able to recognize, understand, and appropriately treat menopausal symptoms in HIV-infected women.
Vasomotor Symptoms
In the United States the most common symptom during perimenopause is hot flashes, which occur in 38% to 80% of women [58,59]. Vasomotor symptoms are most common in women who smoke, use illicit substances, have a high BMI, are of lower socioeconomic status, and are African American [19]. As expected, prior studies focusing on hot flash prevalence among premenopausal, perimenopausal, and postmenopausal HIV-infected women found that postmenopausal women experience more hot flashes than premenopausal or perimenopausal women [40,42]. In addition, a comparison of HIV-infected and non–HIV-infected women demonstrated a higher prevalence of hot flashes among HIV-infected women [38,56]. Ferreira et al found that 78% of Brazilian HIV-infected women reported vasomotor symptoms compared to 60% of non–HIV-infected women [38]. Similarly, Miller et al reported that 64% of HIV-infected women reported vasomotor symptoms compared to 58% of non–HIV-infected women [56].
Vasomotor symptoms can be severely distressing with hot flashes contributing to increased risk of depression [56,60]. In a cross-sectional analysis of 835 HIV-infected and 335 non–HIV-infected women from the WIHS, persistent vasomotor symptoms predicted elevated depressive symptoms in both HIV-infected and non-HIV-infected women [60]. In a similar cross-sectional analysis of 536 women, among whom 54% were HIV positive and 37% were perimenopausal, psychological symptoms were prevalent in 61% of the women with vasomotor symptoms [56].
Oddly enough, higher CD4 cell counts appear to be associated with increased prevalence of vasomotor symptoms [39,56]. Clark et al demonstrated that menopausal HIV-infected women with CD4 cell counts > 500 cells/mm3 were more likely to report hot flashes [39]. Similarly, Miller et al observed a reduction in the prevalence of menopausal symptoms as CD4 cell counts declined among HIV-infected non-HAART users [56]. The rationale behind this is unclear but some experts postulated that it may be due to the effects of HAART.
Genitourinary Symptoms
With estrogen deficiency, which accompanies the perimenopausal period, vulvovaginal atrophy (VVA) occurs leading to symptoms of vaginal dryness, itching, burning, urgency, and dyspareunia (painful intercourse) [59,61,62]. Unlike vasomotor symptoms, which diminish with time, genitourinary symptoms generally worsen if left untreated [63]. Furthermore, these symptoms are often underreported and underdiagnosed [64,65]. Several studies using telephone and online surveys have found that the prevalence of symptoms of VVA is between 43% and 63% in postmenopausal women [66–69]. Even higher rates were found in the Agata Study in which pelvic exams in 913 Italian women were performed to obtain objective signs of VVA [62]. The prevalence of VVA was 64% 1 year after menopause and 84% 6 years after menopause. Vaginal dryness was found in 100% of participants with VVA or 82% of total study participants. In addition, 77% of women with VVA, or 40% of total study participants, reported dyspareunia.
Genitourinary symptoms are most common among women who are African American, have an increased BMI, are from lower socioeconomic class, use tobacco [19], have prior history of pelvic inflammatory disease, and have anxiety and depression [70,71]. Similarly to hot flashes, many of these predisposing factors are more common in HIV-infected women. Fantry et al found that 49.6% of HIV-infected women had vaginal dryness. Although 56% of postmenopausal women and 36% of perimenopausal women complained of vaginal dryness, in a multivariate analysis only cocaine use, which can decrease estradiol levels [7,31] was associated with a higher frequency of vaginal dryness [40].
Similarly, dyspareunia is also common among HIV-infected women. In a cross-sectional study of 178 non–HIV-infected and 128 HIV-infected women between 40 and 60 years of age, Valadares et al found that the frequency of dyspareunia in HIV-infected women was high at 41.8% [72]. However, this was not significantly higher compared to the prevalence of 34.8% in non–HIV-infected women. HIV infection itself was not associated with the presence of dyspareunia
Psychiatric Symptoms
Anxiety and depression are also common symptoms in perimenopausal women [73–76]. Studies have shown that depression is diagnosed 2.5 times more frequently among perimenopausal than premenopausal women [76].
In a study by Miller et al that focused on 536 HIV-infected women, among whom 37% were perimenopausal, 89% reported psychological symptoms [56]. Ferreira et al found that HIV-infected perimenopausal women had an increased incidence of psychological symptoms compared to non–HIV-infected women [38]. Whether this increased prevalence of psychological symptoms seen in HIV-infected women can be attributed to menopause is unclear since one third to one half of men and women living with HIV experience symptoms of depression [77]. However, in the WIHS, which compared 835 HIV-infected with 335 non-HIV-infected women from all menopausal stages, elevated depressive symptoms were seen in the early perimenopausal period [60]. There was no increased incidence of such symptoms during the premenopausal or postmenopausal period, suggesting the contribution of menopause to depressive symptoms during the perimenopausal period [60].
Persistent menopausal symptoms, especially hot flashes, also predicted elevated depressive symptoms in several studies [56,60] suggesting the importance of appropriately identifying and treating menopausal symptoms. In addition, cognitive decline associated with menopause contributes to depression [78–80].
Other Symptoms
Sleep disturbances are also common among perimenopausal women, with prevalence estimated to be between 38% and 46% [81–84]. Hot flashes, anxiety, and depression appear to be contributing factors [81–84]. In a cross-sectional study of 273 HIV-infected and 264 non-HIV-infected women between 40 and 60 years of age, insomnia was found in 51% of perimenopausal and 53% of postmenopausal HIV-infected women. HIV-infected women had the same prevalence of insomnia compared to non–HIV-infected women [85]. Joint aches are also commonly reported in the perimenopausal period, with prevalence as high as 50% to 60% among perimenopausal women in the United States [52,53]. In HIV-infected women, Miller et al found that 63% of menopausal women reported arthralgia [56].
Treatment
For women experiencing severe hot flashes and vaginal dryness, short-term menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) is indicated to relieve symptoms. MHT should be limited to the shortest period of time at the lowest effective dose as MHT is associated with increased risks of breast cancer, cardiovascular disease, thromboembolism, and increased morbidity [86]. Despite the increased severity of menopausal symptoms experienced among HIV-infected women, the prevalence of the use of MHT in this population is lower compared to non–HIV-infected women [85].
Topical treatment is recommended for women who are experiencing solely vaginal atrophy. First-line treatment is topical nonhormonal therapy such as moisturizers and lubricants [87]. If symptoms are not relieved, then topical vaginal estrogen therapy is recommended [87]. Although topical therapy can result in estrogen absorption into the circulation, it is to a much lesser extent than systemic estrogen therapy [88].
Overall, there is lack of data on the potential interactions between MHT and HAART. Much of the potential interactions are inferred from pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamics studies between HAART and oral contraceptives. Hormone therapy, protease inhibitors (PIs), colbicistat, and non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) are all metabolized by the CYP3A4 enzyme [89–91]. Current evidence suggests that concomitant use of hormone therapy with NNRTIs and PIs does not significantly alter the pharmacokinetics of HAART or the clinical outcomes of HIV [91]. However, there is evidence that concomitant use of nevirapine and PIs boosted with ritonavir leads to decrease in estrogen levels so higher doses of MHT may have to be used to achieve symptomatic relief [91]. There is no data on the interaction between PIs boosted with colbicistat and estrogen [92]. Integrase inhibitors, nucleoside and nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs), and the CCR5 antagonist maraviroc have no significant interactions with estrogen containing compounds [89,90,92].
Cardiovascular Risk
Estrogen deficiency resulting from menopause leads to several long-term effects, including cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis. The loss of protective effects of estrogen leads to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease particularly with changes in lipid profiles [93]. Perimenopausal women experience changes in body composition with increased fat mass and waist circumference, as well as dyslipidemia and insulin resistance, all of which are associated with higher risk of cardiovascular disease [94].
HIV infection also incurs a higher risk of cardiovascular disease [95–99]. The inflammatory effects of HIV, HAART, and traditional risk factors including dyslipidemia all contribute to cardiovascular disease but the degree to which each factor contributes to elevated risk is unknown [95,98]. In addition, modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular disease such as decreased fitness and smoking are more commonly seen in HIV-infected women [100]. Even prior to menopause, HIV-infected women experience lipodystrophy syndrome with increase in truncal visceral adiposity and decrease in subcutaneous fat and muscle mass [101,102]. Whether such changes in body composition are exacerbated during the perimenopausal period remain unclear. In the SWEET study, which focused on 702 South African women among whom 21% were HIV-infected, there was lower lean mass but minimal difference in the fat mass of postmenopausal women compared to premenopausal women [103]. As the study was based in South Africa with only 21% HIV-infected, the results of this study should be viewed with caution. While changes in body composition were not observed in postmenopausal women in the SWEET study, increased truncal adiposity seen in premenopausal HIV-infected women is likely to pose an additional risk for cardiovascular disease during the menopause transition.
Several studies have been conducted to demonstrate an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, especially among young HIV-infected men [95–99]. However, no study has focused specifically on the risk of cardiovascular disease in postmenopausal HIV-infected women to date. Despite the lack of studies, it is plausible that the increased risk of cardiovascular disease seen in HIV infection is likely to be compounded with the increased risk seen during menopause. Postmenopausal HIV-infected women may be at significantly higher risk of cardiovascular disease. Appropriate measures such as lipid control, antiplatelet therapy, smoking cessation, and other lifestyle changes should be initiated as in any other population. Further studies are necessary focusing on the effects of menopause on cardiovascular disease risk in HIV-infected women.
