A great volume of HIV and AIDS research enters the medical literature every month. It’s difficult to monitor everything, so here’s a quick look at some notable news items and journal articles published over the past few weeks.

HIV-infected U.S. smokers aged 40 years lose more than 6 years of life expectancy from smoking, according to a computer simulation study, possibly outweighing the loss from HIV infection itself.

A five-nation study of HIV-infected patients with virologic failure of a first-line regimen containing efavirenz, plus tenofovir and lamivudine or emtricitabine, found that the WHO-recommended switch to a ritonavir-boosted protease inhibitor plus zidovudine and lamivudine might come at the cost of peripheral lipoatrophy.

A study published in JAIDS provides insight into a novel mechanism of ritonavir-induced insulin resistance involving proinflammatory properties of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1).

Antiretroviral therapy with efavirenz, emtricitabine, and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) appeared to have a more favorable renal safety profile than did TDF administered with a protease inhibitor or cobicistat, according to a study in HIV Clinical Trials.

Researchers said the first study to describe the dynamics of the biomarker of cerebrospinal fluid YKL-40 in two groups of HIV-infected individuals, before and after combination antiretroviral therapy, has demonstrated the value of the marker in understanding HIV neuropathogenesis.

A study of HIV testing among ethnic minority adolescents in New Jersey underscored the importance of developing multifaceted HIV/AIDS prevention protocols that provide direct education and skill-building activities, leverage peer education as a means to disseminate health-related information, and deliver broad-based prevention messaging that is culturally tailored and gender specific.

HIV-infected adults in a contemporary, high-resource setting have poor dietary patterns, a recent study found, and alcohol use was associated with worse gut integrity and increased inflammation , while other aspects of diet were not.

A study in BMC Infectious Diseases found immune recovery comparable in primary and chronic HIV infection , whereas differences in absolute counts and proportions of CD4+ T cell subpopulations were found between primary HIV infection and late presenters supporting early initiation of combination antiretroviral therapy.

HIV/HCV coinfection leads to a significant increase in plasma HCV RNA , according to a study in Pathogens and Global Health.

A Canadian study identified elevated rates of intentional and unintentional injury among people living with HIV.

Partner services for persons with acute and early HIV infection (AEH) within 30 days of diagnosis represents an effective tool to find HIV unaware persons , a recent study found, including those with AEH who are at greatest risk of HIV transmission.

Maternal tenofovir use was not associated with lower length or head circumference of HIV-exposed uninfected infants at 2 years of age, a recent study revealed, but may be related to greater weight among those exposed to combination antiretroviral therapy early in pregnancy.

Cryptococcal meningitis may be considered one of the causes of acute vision loss in pregnant/postpartum HIV-positive females, according to a study in BMC Infectious Diseases.

According to a study in JAIDS, red cell distribution width remains a powerful marker of cardiovascular disease in the context of the inflammatory milieu that accompanies HIV infection.

HIV infection moderates the association between vascular remodeling and neurocognitive function but not the association between pulse pressure and neurocognitive function, a recent study revealed.

HIV viral blips on therapy are associated with subsequent viral rebound on stopping antiretroviral therapy among individuals treated in primary HIV infection, according to a new study.

Adipocytokine dysregulation seems to be related to metabolic syndrome in HIV-infected children, according to a study in the Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal.

rpizzi@frontlinemedcom.com

On Twitter @richpizzi

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