After removal of patients with previous CVD, GDF15 levels remained correlated to markers of insulin resistance (insulin, r = 0.302, p = 0.001; HOMA1-IR, r = 0.234, p = 0.010; FGF21, r = 0.216, p = 0.011), duration of infection (r = 0.182, p = 0.042), cumulated NRTI exposure (thymidine NRTI: r = 0.181, p = 0.038), non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTI) (r = 0.257, p = 0.004), and lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r) (r = 0.185, p = 0.042). Here, GDF15 is linked to infection.