The main findings of this prospective study of 40 individuals with high cardiovascular risk and no known cardiovascular disease are as follows: (1) HIV infection was identified as an independent predictor of increased AA wall inflammation as assessed by 18 FDG-PET, and (2) HIV infection was also found to be an independent predictor of increased levels of inflammatory cytokines such as IL-10 and INF-γ, as well as of markers of activated endothelium such as VCAM-1. This evidence concerns the gene VCAM1 and HIV infectious disease.