If this is not your name, click here.
| | If this is not your name, click here. | | |
| | Contact Us | Order Now | Journals | Bookstore | Register a colleague | | |
| |  Factors Identified to Help At-Risk HIV Patients With Low CD4 Counts to Gain Weight: Presented at AIDS 2010 By Ed Susman VIENNA -- July 27, 2010 -- Individuals with HIV who have a history of injecting drug use and who initiate antiretroviral therapy are most likely to gain weight if they have lower CD4-positive cell counts, use liquid supplements, and adhere to their treatment regimens, researchers said here at the 18th International AIDS Conference. "Our results highlight several potential areas for developing interventions to promote weight gain and minimise weight loss in undernourished populations immediately after initiating antiretroviral therapy," stated Alice Tang, MS, PhD, Tufts University, Boston, Massachusetts. Malnutrition at the beginning of antiretroviral therapy is associated with mortality, while increase in body weight indicates how well a person may do on antiretroviral therapy. Patients with a history of injection drug use gained 3.1 kg (8.8 lbs) during the first 6 months after initiating highly active antiretroviral therapy (P < .001), Dr. Tang said at her poster presentation here on July 19. These patients also continued to gained weight -- but at a slower rate -- over the next 6-month period, said Dr. Tang. In the second 6-month period, the mean weight gain was 0.9 kg (2 lbs) (P = .02). "Moderate to heavy alcohol use has a significantly detrimental effect on weight gain during the first 6 months of therapy after starting antiretroviral therapy [P = .007]," Dr. Tang noted. Individuals who used liquid dietary supplements, however, did gain weight (P = .006) during the first 6 months on antiretroviral therapy, although the use of those supplements was associated with weight loss in the second 6-month period (P = .04). Dr. Tang also said that patients who were sicker at baseline with CD4 cell counts less than 200/mcL and were experiencing bothersome nausea appeared to do better in terms of weight gain (P = .007). In this study, Dr. Tang and colleagues recruited 99 men diagnosed with HIV who had not yet initiated antiretroviral therapy. The men were enrolled in the trial in Hanoi, Vietnam, for a longitudinal study of nutrition and HIV. The mean age was 31.7 years; 69% were married; 31% has spent time incarcerated; 48% had used injected drugs within the previous 6 months; and 53% were moderate or heavy drinkers. In all, 81 of the 99 men completed 6 months of therapy; 72 of the patients completed the 12-month study. About 59% of the patients began therapy on a regimen that included a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor backbone of zidovudine and lamivudine and the non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor efavirenz. Another 23% of the patients began treatment with zidovudine, lamivudine, and the non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor nevirapine; 11% initiated treatment with stavudine, lamivudine, and nevirapine; and 5% initiated treatment with stavudine, lamivudine, and efavirenz. Funding for this study was provided by grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. [Presentation title: Predictors of Weight Gain in a Cohort of HIV-Positive Injection Drug Users Initiating Antiretroviral (ARV) Therapy in Hanoi, Vietnam. Abstract MOPE0105]
|
