Additionally, the risk of incident MI was significantly higher in patients with HIV and RA with proxy-markers of high inflammatory burden, with ~2-fold higher risks for MI (vs. non-CID controls) for HIV patients in the lowest CD4 tertile (HR 2.0, 95% CI 1.2, 3.3) and RA patients in the highest CRP tertile (HR 2.1, 95% CI 1.0, 4.4). Here, CD4 is linked to rheumatoid arthritis.