Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report Highlights Recently Published Journal of Infectious Diseases Studies
The following summarizes studies recently published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.
- "Evaluating the Impact of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) on Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy -- Mediated Immune Responses in HCV/HIV-Coinfected Women: Role of HCV on Expression of Primed/Memory T Cells": Lena Al-Harthi of Rush University Medical Center in Chicago and colleagues examined HIV-positive women with hepatitis C virus and the impact of HCV on the immune system before highly active antiretroviral therapy and on the recovery of the immune system after HAART. Researchers looked at 294 women and found that HCV does not affect the immune system's response to HAART. However, HIV/HCV coinfection is "associated with an expansion of CD4+ and CD8+ memory T cell subsets," the study finds (Al-Harthi et al., Journal of Infectious Diseases, 3/17).
- "Is Antiretroviral Therapy During Pregnancy Associated With an Increased Risk of Preterm Delivery, Low Birthweight or Stillbirth?": Amanda Cotter of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Miami and colleagues examined if there is a connection between preterm delivery, low birthweight infants or stillbirth and antiretroviral therapy by looking at the records of women who gave birth at the University of Miami Jackson Memorial Medical Center between 1990 and 2002. The study examines data of 999 women who received antiretroviral therapy -- 492 who received monotherapy, 373 who received combination therapy without a protease inhibitor and 134 who received combination therapy with a protease inhibitor -- during pregnancy and 338 women who did not receive antiretroviral therapy during pregnancy. Researchers concluded that only combination therapy with a protease inhibitor increased a woman's risk of preterm delivery. In addition, the study finds that there were no increased risks of low birthweight or stillbirth in women receiving any of the antiretroviral therapies (Cotter et al., Journal of Infectious Diseases, 4/4).
- "Frequency and Treatment-Related Predictors of Thymidine-Analogue Mutation Patterns in HIV-1 Isolates After Unsuccessful Antiretroviral Therapy": Andrea De Luca of Catholic University in Rome and colleagues examined 684 HIV-positive people who had received HAART that was unsuccessful. The study finds that the number of HAART regimens previously taken by patients could be used as a predictor to determine whether current HAART regimens would be successful in the participants (De Luca et al., Journal of Infectious Diseases, 3/28).