Given a passage with a context and an answer, construct a question on the basis of the information present in the passage. Construct the question in such a way that (i) it is unambiguous, (ii) it is answerable from the passage, (iii) its answer is unique (iv) it answer uses text phrases from the passage. Avoid creating questions that (i) can't be answered correctly without actually understanding the passage and (ii) uses the same words or phrases given in the passage.

Context: Chronic HIV/HCV co-infection carries increased risk of cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, and death. Due to anti-inflammatory properties, HMG co-A inhibitors (statins) may be useful adjunctive therapy to reduce liver disease progression.', 'Clinical information was extracted from the Veterans Affairs HIV and HCV Clinical Case Registries (1999 - 2010). HIV-related variables included combination anti-retroviral therapy (cART) era of diagnosis, CD4 cell count, and percent time with undetectable HIV viral load. Metabolic variables included diabetes, low-HDL, and hypertension. Statin use was measured as percent time with active prescription (time-updated throughout the follow-up period). Cox proportional hazards analysis was used to determine risk factors for cirrhosis (ICD-9 or APRI>2) overall and in groups stratified by alanine aminotransferase (ALT) level above and below 40IU/L.', 'The cohort included 5985HIV/HCV co-infected veterans. The majority was black race, and the mean age at index date was 45 years. Statin use was significantly protective of cirrhosis for patients with ALT 40IU/L; for every 30% increase in time on statin, there was a 32% decreased risk of developing cirrhosis (HR 0.68, 95% CI 0.47 -0.98). Diabetes and low-HDL were significantly associated with cirrhosis in patients with ALT > 40IU/L (HR 1.15, p<0.04 and HR 1.3, p<0.0001).
Answer: Statin drug use is beneficial in mitigating the risk of liver disease progression for HIV/HCV co-infected patients without advanced liver disease. Low-HDL and diabetes in co-infected patients with abnormal ALT have greater risk of cirrhosis development.
Do statin drugs decrease progression to cirrhosis in HIV/HCV co-infected individuals?

Context: Microvascular alterations contribute to the development of stroke and vascular dementia. The goal of this study was to evaluate age and hypertension related changes of the basal lamina in cerebral microvessels of individuals, who died from non-cerebral causes.', 'We examined 27 human brains: 11 young and 16 old patients. Old patients were divided into two subgroups, those with hypertension (n = 8) and those without hypertension (n = 8). Basal lamina changes of the cerebral microvessels were determined in the putamen using antibodies against collagen type IV and by quantitative analysis of vessel number, total stained area of collagen, thickness of the vessel wall and lumen, and relative staining intensity using immunofluorescence. The total number of collagen positive vessels per microscopic field was reduced in old compared to young subjects (12.0+/-0.6 vs. 15.1+/-1.2, p = 0.02). The relative collagen content per vessel (1.01+/-0.06 vs. 0.76+/-0.05, p = 0.01) and the relative collagen intensity (233.1+/-4.5 vs. 167.8+/-10.6, p < 0.0001) shown by immunofluorescence were higher in the older compared to the younger patients with a consecutive reduction of the lumen / wall ratio (1.29+/-0.05 vs. 3.29+/-0.15, p < 0.0001). No differences were observed for these parameters between old hypertensive and non-hypertensive patients.
Answer: The present data show age-related changes of the cerebral microvessels in sections of human putamen for the first time. Due to the accumulation of collagen, microvessels thicken and show a reduction in their lumen. Besides this, the number of vessels decreases. These findings might represent a precondition for the development of vascular cognitive impairment. However, hypertension was not proven to modulate these changes.
Is aging associated with increased collagen type IV accumulation in the basal lamina of human cerebral microvessels?

Context: Although N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) has a strong relationship with incident cardiovascular disease (CVD), few studies have examined whether NT-proBNP adds to risk prediction algorithms, particularly in women.', 'This study sought to evaluate the relationship between NT-proBNP and incident CVD in women.', "Using a prospective case-cohort within the WHI (Women's Health Initiative) observational study, we selected 1,821 incident cases of CVD (746 myocardial infarctions, 754 ischemic strokes, 160 hemorrhagic strokes, and 161 other cardiovascular [CV] deaths) and a randomly selected reference cohort of 1,992 women without CVD at baseline.", 'Median levels of NT-proBNP were higher at study entry among incident cases (120.3 ng/l [interquartile range (IQR): 68.1 to 219.5 ng/l]) than among control subjects (100.4 ng/l [IQR: 59.7 to 172.6 ng/l]; p< 0.0001). Women in the highest quartile of NT-proBNP (140.8 ng/l) were at 53% increased risk of CVD versus those in the lowest quartile after adjusting for traditional risk factors (1.53 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.21 to 1.94]; p for trend<0.0001). Similar associations were observed after adjustment for Reynolds Risk Score covariables (1.53 [95% CI: 1.20 to 1.95]; p for trend<0.0001); the association remained in separate analyses of CV death (2.66 [95% CI: 1.48 to 4.81]; p for trend<0.0001), myocardial infarction (1.39[95% CI: 1.02 to 1.88]; p for trend= 0.008), and stroke (1.60 [95% CI: 1.22 to 2.11]; p for trend<0.0001). When added to traditional risk covariables, NT-proBNP improved the c-statistic (0.765 to 0.774; p= 0.0003), categorical net reclassification (0.08; p< 0.0001), and integrated discrimination (0.0105; p<0.0001). Similar results were observed when NT-proBNP was added to the Reynolds Risk Score.
Answer: In this multiethnic cohort of women with numerous CV events, NT-proBNP modestly improved measures of CVD risk prediction.
Do b-type natriuretic peptides improve cardiovascular disease risk prediction in a cohort of women?