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.

Interventions that seek to promptly house homeless individuals might assist in maximizing the clinical and public health benefits of antiretroviral therapy among people living with HIV/AIDS, according to a study in AIDS Care.

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MRSA colonization among HIV-infected youth is more closely related to living in a low-income or slum community than to HIV-related clinical factors, according to a study in the Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal.

Marijuana use was not associated with progression to significant liver fibrosis, in a large cohort study of HIV/hepatitis C virus (HCV) co-infected women. Alcohol use may better predict fibrosis progression in HIV/HCV co-infected women, the authors said.

More than 60% of deaths occurring in a rural South African community between 1992 and 2013 could be attributed directly or indirectly to HIV, according to a recent study. However, the authors noted that there has been an increasing level of non-HIV mortality, which has important implications for local health care provision.

A study in AIDS Care found that providers value same-day, electronic, patient-reported measures for use in clinical HIV care, with the condition that patient-reported outcomes are 1) tailored to be the most clinically relevant to their population; 2) well integrated into clinic flow; and 3) easy to interpret, highlighting chief patient concerns and changes over time.

Investigators found that nasal and salivary samples can be collected from HIV-infected patients in a standardized manner over repeated visits in both low and high resource settings, and these methods may be used in support of future HIV vaccine clinical trials.

A study in the Journal of Infectious Diseases found no intrinsic effect of viral subtype on the efficacy of tenofovir-containing regimens for treating HIV-1 subtype C infections. There were no differences between subtypes C and non-B/C in either univariate or multivariate analysis.

New research provides preliminary evidence that heavy drinking may increase a key inflammatory marker in HIV-infected individuals with suppressed infection.

The phase III Women AntiretroViral Efficacy and Safety study (WAVES) showed that clinical trials of antiretroviral regimens in global and diverse populations of treatment-naive women are possible, investigators concluded. They said their findings support guidelines recommending integrase inhibitor–based regimens in first-line antiretroviral therapy.

A hybrid mobile strategy for HIV testing of adults was leveraged successfully to reach adolescents for HIV treatment and prevention, according to a study in Kenya and Uganda.

With viral suppression induced by combination antiretroviral therapy, women have less reduction in key markers of inflammation and immune activation, compared with men, report the authors of a study in JAIDS.

The transfer of HIV-1-p17-specific T-cell receptors (TCRs) into T-cells is functional both in HIV-1–infected patients and in healthy blood donors, according to a study in the journal AIDS. The authors say TCR-transfer is a promising method to boost the immune system against HIV-1.

HIV-1 subtype C (HIV-1C) exhibits lower in vivo fitness, compared with HIV-1B, which allows successful treatment despite high baseline viral loads, a new study demonstrated. The lower fitness – and potentially lower virulence – together with high viral loads may underlie the heightened transmission potential of HIV-1C and its growing global spread.

Thailand has achieved World Health Organization targets for elimination of mother-to-child-transmission of HIV and can serve as a model for other countries, according to a report in MMWR.

Regular CD4 testing may be unnecessary for virally suppressed children aged 5-15 years with CD4 greater than or equal to 500 cells/mm³, according to a study published in the Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society.

Investigators at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland found that 24 weeks of 10 mg daily rosuvastatin decreases plasma coenzyme Q10 concentration and increases CoQ10/LDL ratio in HIV-infected patients on antiretroviral therapy.

Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco, and Yale University, New Haven, Conn., found that half of people newly infected with HIV experience neurologic issues that are generally not severe and usually resolve after starting antiretroviral therapy.

A study of HIV-infected individuals in metropolitan Washington identified high prevalence of transmitted drug resistance, regardless of gender. The authors said active surveillance for transmitted drug resistance is needed to guide antiretroviral usage and analyses of risk group contributions to HIV transmission and resistance.

Single-nucleotide polymorphisms in genes encoding the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and CD14 are independently associated with long-term CD4+ T-cell recovery in HIV-infected individuals after antiretroviral therapy, according to a study in the journal AIDS.

In HIV/HCV co-infected individuals, the crude incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma increased from 2001 to 2014, while other liver events declined, according to a recent study.

rpizzi@frontlinemedcom.com

On Twitter @richpizzi

HIV research update: Early June 2016