Stavudine toxicity in women is the main reason for treatment change in a 3-year prospective cohort of adult patients started on first-line antiretroviral treatment in Uganda

Incidence and Predictors of Severe Adverse Drug Reactions among Patients on Antiretroviral Drugs in Harari Regional State, Eastern Ethiopia

Background

The introduction of combination antiretroviral therapy improves the quality and longevity of people living with HIV/AIDS. However, adverse drug reactions associated with antiretroviral therapy compromise the resulting benefits and have been reported differently worldwide, including Ethiopia. Severe adverse drug reactions are one of the major public health concerns for the reason that they can potentially impede the benefit of antiretroviral therapy and put the patient's survival at risk. Despite many successes achieved with the introduction of the combined antiretroviral therapy, the majority of the patients on antiretroviral therapy experience adverse drug reactions associated with the drugs. Consequently, little is known about the problem in the current study area. This is, therefore, to study incidence and predictors of severe adverse drug reactions among patients on antiretroviral drugs in the Harari region, Eastern Ethiopia. The aim of this study was to assess the incidence and predictors of severe adverse drug reactions among patients on antiretroviral therapy from February 25, 2022, to March 25, 2022, in the Harari region, Eastern Ethiopia.

Methods

A hospital-based retrospective cohort study was conducted among 449 randomly selected medical records of people living with HIV on first-line antiretroviral therapy. Collected data were entered into EpiData version 3.1 and exported to STATA version 15 for analysis. Kaplan-Meier survival curve with log-rank test was used to compare survival curves for categorical independent variables. A p value ≤0.05 was declared as significant, and an adjusted hazard ratio was used to report the effect size using the multivariate Cox proportional hazard model.

Result

The overall incidence density of the severe adverse reactions was 7.22 per 1000 months (95% CI: 5.5, 9.6). After adjusting for all potential confounders using multivariable Cox proportional hazard ratio, advanced clinical diseases (AHR = 3.44; 95% CI: 1.54, 7.65), HIV/tuberculosis confections (AHR = 2.38; 95% CI: 1.23, 4.62), and being female (AHR = 3.12; 95% CI: 1.57, 6.18) were significantly associated with the experience of severe adverse drug reactions.

Conclusion

In this study, the incidence of severe adverse reactions was consistent with the previous studies, and advanced World Health Organization (WHO) clinical stage, HIV/TB confection, and being female were the independent predictors of the severe adverse drug reactions.

Reasons for first line ART modification over the years during the ART scale up in Uganda

Background

During the initial scale up of ART in sub-Saharan Africa, prescribed regimens included drugs with high potential for toxicity (particularly stavudine). More recently a growing number of patients requires second line treatment due to treatment failure, especially following the expansion of viral load testing. We aim to determine the reasons and risk factors for modification of first line ART across the years.

Methods

We included patients started on standard first line ART (2NRTI + 1 NNRTI) between 2005 and 2016 at the Infectious Diseases Institute, Kampala, Uganda. We described the reasons for treatment modification categorized in (1) toxicity (2) treatment failure (3) other reason (new TB treatment, new pregnancy). We used Cox proportional hazard to identify factors associated with treatment modification due to toxicity.

Results

We included 14,261 patients; 9114 (63.9%), were female, the median age was 34 years (IQR: 29–40), 60.8% were in WHO stage 3 and 4. The median BMI and CD4 count were 21.9 (IQR: 19.6–24.8) and 188 cell/µL (IQR: 65–353) respectively; 27.5% were started on stavudine, 46% on zidovudine, and 26.5% on a tenofovir containing regimens. We observed 6248 ART modifications in 4868/14,261 patients (34.1%); 1615 were due to toxicity, 1077 to treatment failure, 1330 to contraindications, and 1860 patients following WHO recommendation of phasing out stavudine and substituting with another NRTI. Modification for drug toxicity declined rapidly after the phase out of stavudine (2008), while switches to second line regimes increased after the implementation of viral load monitoring (2015). Patients with normal BMI compared to underweight, (HR: 0.79, CI 0.69–0.91), with CD4 counts 200–350 cells/µL compared to < 200 cells/µL (HR: 0.81− CI 0.71–0.93), and started on zidovudine (HR: 0.51 CI 0.44–0.59) and tenofovir (HR: 0.16, CI 0.14–0.22) compared to stavudine were less likely to have ART modification due to toxicity. Older patients (HR: 1.14 per 5-year increase CI 1.11–1.18), those in WHO stage 3 and 4 (HR: 1.19, CI 1.06–1.34) were more likely to have ART modification due to toxicity.

Conclusions

Toxicity as reason for drugs substitution decreased over time mirroring the phase out of stavudine, while viral load expansion identified more patients in need of second line treatment.

Attrition Across the HIV Cascade of Care Among a Diverse Cohort of Women Living With HIV in Canada

BACKGROUND

In North America, women have lower engagement across the HIV cascade of care compared with men. Among women living with HIV (WLWH) in Canada, we measured the prevalence and correlates of attrition across cascade stages overall, and by key subpopulations.

METHODS

We analyzed baseline survey data regarding 6 nested stages of the HIV cascade among 1424 WLWH enrolled in the Canadian HIV Sexual and Reproductive Health Cohort Study (CHIWOS), including: linked to care, retained in care, initiated antiretroviral therapy (ART), current ART use, ART adherence (≥90%), and viral suppression (<50 copies/mL). Logistic regression identified factors associated with attrition at each stage.

RESULTS

Overall, 98% of WLWH were linked to care; 96% retained; 88% initiated ART; 83% were currently on ART; and, among those on ART, 68% were adherent and 72% were virally suppressed, with substantial variability by subpopulation (49%-84%).The largest attrition occurred between current ART use and adherence (-17%), with the greatest losses among indigenous women (-25%), women who use illicit drugs (-32%), and women incarcerated in the past year (-45%). Substantial attrition also occurred between linkage to care and ART initiation (-11%), with the greatest losses among women 16-29 years (-20%) and with unstable housing (-27%). Factors independently associated with attrition at viral suppression included household annual income, racial discrimination, incarceration history, age, and resilience.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, 28% of WLWH were lost across the HIV care cascade, with significant differences by stage, subpopulation, and social inequities. Targeted interventions are needed to improve women's retention across the cascade.

Sensitive detection of HIV-1 resistance to Zidovudine and impact on treatment outcomes in low- to middle-income countries

Background

Thymidine analogs, namely AZT (Zidovudine or Retrovir™) and d4T (Stavudine or Zerit™) are antiretroviral drugs still employed in over 75% of first line combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) in Kampala, Uganda despite aversion to prescribing these drugs for cART in high income countries due in part to adverse events. For this study, we explored how the continued use of these thymidine analogs in cART could impact emergence of drug resistance and impact on future treatment success in Uganda, a low-income country.

Methods

We examined the drug resistance genotypes by Sanger sequencing of 262 HIV-infected patients failing a first line combined antiretroviral treatment containing either AZT or d4T, which represents approximately 5% of the patients at the Joint Clinical Research Center receiving a AZT or d4T containing treatment. Next generation sequencing (DEEPGEN™HIV) and multiplex oligonucleotide ligation assays (AfriPOLA) were then performed on a subset of patient samples to detect low frequency drug resistant mutations. CD4 cell counts, viral RNA loads, and treatment changes were analyzed in a cohort of treatment success and failures.

Results

Over 80% of patients failing first line AZT/d4T-containing cART had predicted drug resistance to 3TC (Lamivudine) and non-nucleoside RT inhibitors (NNRTIs) in the treatment regimen but only 45% had resistance AZT/d4T associated resistance mutations (TAMs). TAMs were however detected at low frequency within the patients HIV quasispecies (1–20%) in 21 of 34 individuals who were failing first-line AZT-containing cART and lacked TAMs by Sanger. Due to lack of TAMs by Sanger, AZT was typically maintained in second-line therapies and these patients had a low frequency of subsequent virologic success.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that continued use of AZT and d4T in first-line treatment in low-to-middle income countries may lead to misdiagnosis of HIV-1 drug resistance and possibly enhance a succession of second- and third-line treatment failures.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi: 10.1186/s40249-017-0377-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Outcomes of an HIV cohort after a decade of comprehensive care at Newlands Clinic in Harare, Zimbabwe: TENART cohort

Background

Data on long-term outcomes of patients receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) in sub-Saharan Africa are few. We describe outcomes of patients commenced on ART at Newlands Clinic between 2004 and 2006 after ≥10 years of comprehensive care including, psychosocial, adherence and food support.

Methods

In this retrospective cohort study, patient data from an electronic medical record collected during routine care were analysed. We describe baseline characteristics, virological and clinical outcomes, attrition rates, and treatment adverse effects until November 2016. We defined virological suppression as viral load <50 copies/ml and virological failure as >1000 copies/ml after ≥6 months of ART.

Results

We analysed data for 605 patients (67% female) who commenced ART, and were followed-up for 5819 person-years (median: 10.7 years, IQR: 10.1–11.4). Median age at ART initiation was 34 years (IQR: 17–42). Pre-ART, 129 (21.3%) patients had history of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB). In care, 66 (11%) developed PTB, and 24 (4%) developed extrapulmonary tuberculosis. 385 (63.6%) patients experienced ≥1 adverse event, the most frequent being stavudine-induced peripheral neuropathy (n = 252, 41.7%). At database closure on 14 November 2016, 474 (78.3%) patients were still in care, 428 (90.3%) being virologically suppressed, and 21 (4.4%) failing. While 483 (79.8%) remained on first line, 122 (20.2%) were switched to second line ART. Fifty-nine patients (9.8%) were transferred to other ART facilities, 45 (7.4%) were lost to follow-up, 25 (4.1%) died, and two stopped ART.

Conclusion

Comprehensive HIV care can result in low mortality, high retention in care and virologic suppression rates in resource limited settings.

The incidence of first-line antiretroviral treatment changes and related factors among HIV-infected sex workers in Nairobi, Kenya

INTRODUCTION

In many settings, several factors including adverse drug reactions and clinical failure can limit treatment choices for combined antiretroviral therapy (cART). The aim of the study was to describe the incidence of first-line cART changes and associated factors in a cohort of Kenyan sex workers.

METHODS

This was a retrospective review of medical records collected from 2009 to 2013. The review included records of HIV-infected patients aged ≥ 18 years, who received either stavudine or zidovudine or tenofovir disoproxil fumarate-based regimens. Using systematic random sampling, the study selected 1 500 records and censoring targeted the first incident of a drug change from the first-line cART.

RESULTS

The overall incidence rate of cART changes was 11.1 per 100 person-years within a total follow-up period of 3 427.9 person-years. Out of 380 patients who changed cART, 370 (97%) had a drug substitution and 10 (3%) switched regimens. The most commonly cited reasons for changing cART were adverse drug reactions (76%). Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate had a lower drug change rate (1.9 per 100 person years) compared to stavudine (27 per 100 person years). Using zidovudine as the reference group, stavudine-based regimens were significantly associated with an increased hazard of drug changes (adjusted hazards ratio 10.2; 95% CI: 6.02-17.2).

CONCLUSION

These findings suggest a moderate incidence of cART changes among sex workers in Nairobi, Kenya. Individuals using stavudine were at a higher risk of experiencing a change in their cART, mostly presenting within 20 months, and primarily due to adverse drug reactions.

First-line antiretroviral therapy durability in a 10-year cohort of naïve adults started on treatment in Uganda

INTRODUCTION

The majority of studies from resource-limited settings only report short-term virological outcomes of patients on antiretroviral treatment (ART). We aim to describe the long-term durability of first-line ART and identify factors associated with long-term virological outcomes.

METHODS

At the Infectious Diseases Institute in Kampala, Uganda, 559 adult patients starting ART in 2004 were enrolled into a research cohort and monitored with viral load (VL) testing every six months for 10 years. We report the proportion and cumulative probability of 1) achieving virologic suppression (at least one VL <400 copies/ml); 2) experiencing virologic failure in patients who achieved suppression (two consecutive VLs >1000 copies/ml or one VL >5000, for those without a subsequent one); 3) treatment failure (not attaining virologic suppression or experiencing virologic failure). We used Cox regression methods to determine the characteristics associated with treatment failure. We included gender, baseline age, WHO stage, body mass index, CD4 count, propensity score for initial ART regimen, VL, time-dependent CD4 count and adherence.

RESULTS

Of the 559 patients enrolled, 472 (84.8%) had at least one VL (67 died, 13 were lost to follow-up, 4 transferred, 2 had no VL available); 73.6% started on d4T/3TC/nevirapine and 26.4% on AZT/3TC/efavirenz. Patients in the two groups had similar characteristics, except for the higher proportion of patients in WHO Stage 3/4 and higher VL in the efavirenz-based group. Four hundred thirty-nine (93%) patients achieved virologic suppression with a cumulative probability of 0.94 (confidence interval (CI): 0.92-0.96); 74/439 (16.9%) experienced virologic failure with a cumulative probability of 0.18 (CI: 0.15-0.22). In the multivariate analysis, initial d4T/3TC/nevirapine regimen (hazard ratio (HR): 3.02; CI: 3.02 (1.66-5.44, p<0.001)) and baseline VL ≥5 log10 copies/ml (HR: 2.29; CI: 1.29-4.04) were associated with treatment failures; patients of older age (HR: 0.87 per five-year increase; CI: 0.77-0.99), with adherence >95% (HR: 0.04; CI: 0.02-0.11) and with higher time-dependent CD4 count (HR: 0.94 per 50 cells/µl increase; CI: 0.92-0.99, p<0.001) were less likely to experience treatment failure.

CONCLUSIONS

The long-term virological outcomes from this cohort are promising and comparable to those from research-rich settings. Our results provide further evidence that efavirenz is associated with better virological outcomes.

Outcomes in a Cohort of Patients Started on Antiretroviral Treatment and Followed up for a Decade in an Urban Clinic in Uganda

BACKGROUND

Short-medium term studies from sub-Saharan Africa show that, despite high early mortality, substantial loss to program, and high rates toxicity, patients on antiretroviral treatment have achieved outcomes comparable to those in developed settings. However, these studies were unable to account for long term outcomes of patients as they stayed longer on treatment.

OBJECTIVES

We aim to describe ten years outcomes of one of the first cohort of HIV positive patients started on antiretroviral treatment (ART) in Sub-Saharan Africa.

METHODS

We report 10-years outcomes including mortality, retention, CD4-count response, virological outcomes, ART regimens change from a prospective cohort of 559 patients initiating ART and followed up for 10 years Uganda.

RESULTS

Of 559 patients, 69.1% were female, median age (IQR) was 38 (33-44) years, median CD4-count (IQR) 98 (21-163) cell/μL; 74% were started on stavudine, lamivudine and nevirapine, 26% on zidovudine, lamivudine and efavirenz. After 10 years 361 (65%) patients were still in the study; 127 (22.7%) had died; 30 (5%) were lost to follow-up; 27 (5%) transferred; 18 (3%) withdrew consent. The probability of death was high in the first year (0.15, 95%, CI 0.12-0.18). The median CD4 count increased from 98 to 589 cell/μL (IQR: 450-739 cell/μL) with a median increase of 357 cells/μL (IQR: 128-600 cells/μL); 7.4% never attained initial viral suppression and of those who did 31.7% experienced viral failure. Three hundred and two patients had at least one drug substitution while on first line after a median of 40 months; 66 (11.9%) of the patients were switched to a second line PI-based regimen due to confirmed treatment failure.

CONCLUSIONS

Despite the high rate of early mortality due to advanced disease at presentation the outcomes from this cohort are encouraging, particularly the remarkable and incremental immune-recovery and a satisfactory rate of virologic suppression.

Differences in antiretroviral safety and efficacy by sex in a multinational randomized clinical trial

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

Worldwide, 50% of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected people are women. This study was to evaluate whether the safety and efficacy outcomes of three initial antiretroviral regimens (ARVs) differed by sex.

METHODS

Antiretroviral regimen naive participants from nine countries in four continents were assigned to ARVs with efavirenz (EFV) plus lamivudine-zidovudine, atazanavir (ATV) plus didanosine (ddI)-EC/emtricitabine (FTC) or EFV plus FTC-tenofovir-DF. The primary objective was to estimate the sex difference on efficacy outcome of treatment failure defined as one of the following: 1. Time to 1st of confirmed virologic failure, 2. WHO Stage 4 progression or 3. death with hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) from adjusted Cox regression models.

RESULTS

In all, 739 (47%) women and 832 (53%) men with HIV were evaluated. Women had higher pretreatment CD4+(182 vs 165 cells/mm(3); P < 0.001) and lower HIV-1 RNA (4.9 log10 vs 5.2 log10 copies/ml; P < 0.001) compared to men. Association of sex with time to regimen failure differed by treatment arm (P = 0.018). For atazanavir plus didanosine-EC plus emtricitabine, women had a longer time to treatment failure compared to men [adjusted HR (aHR) = 0.59; 95% CI 0.40-0.87]. Women were less likely to prematurely discontinue treatment prematurely (aHR = 0.74; 95% CI 0.56-0.98). Women assigned to efavirenz plus lamivudine-zidovudine were more likely to have a primary safety event compared to men (aHR = 1.49; 95% CI 1.18-1.88).

CONCLUSION

Antiretroviral efficacy and safety differed by sex in this study. Consideration of potential effects of sex on antiretroviral outcomes is important for the design of future clinical trials and for HIV treatment guidelines.

Gender inequalities in the response to combination antiretroviral therapy over time: the Swiss HIV Cohort Study

OBJECTIVES

Gender-specific data on the outcome of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) are a subject of controversy. We aimed to compare treatment responses between genders in a setting of equal access to cART over a 14-year period.

METHODS

Analyses included treatment-naïve participants in the Swiss HIV Cohort Study starting cART between 1998 and 2011 and were restricted to patients infected by heterosexual contacts or injecting drug use, excluding men who have sex with men.

RESULTS

A total of 3925 patients (1984 men and 1941 women) were included in the analysis. Women were younger and had higher CD4 cell counts and lower HIV RNA at baseline than men. Women were less likely to achieve virological suppression < 50 HIV-1 RNA copies/mL at 1 year (75.2% versus 78.1% of men; P = 0.029) and at 2 years (77.5% versus 81.1%, respectively; P = 0.008), whereas no difference between sexes was observed at 5 years (81.3% versus 80.5%, respectively; P = 0.635). The probability of virological suppression increased in both genders over time (test for trend, P < 0.001). The median increase in CD4 cell count at 1, 2 and 5 years was generally higher in women during the whole study period, but it gradually improved over time in both sexes (P < 0.001). Women also were more likely to switch or stop treatment during the first year of cART, and stops were only partly driven by pregnancy. In multivariate analysis, after adjustment for sociodemographic factors, HIV-related factors, cART and calendar period, female gender was no longer associated with lower odds of virological suppression.

CONCLUSIONS

Gender inequalities in the response to cART are mainly explained by the different prevalence of socioeconomic characteristics in women compared with men.

Adverse events associated with nevirapine and efavirenz-based first-line antiretroviral therapy: a systematic review and meta-analysis

INTRODUCTION

Since 2002, the WHO has recommended either nevirapine (NVP) or efavirenz (EFV) as part of first-line antiretroviral therapy. These two drugs are known to have differing toxicity profiles, but the risk of these toxicities overall is not well established.

METHODS

We systematically reviewed adverse events among treatment-naive HIV-positive adults and children receiving either NVP or EFV as part of first-line antiretroviral therapy. The primary outcome was drug discontinuation as a result of any adverse event; specific toxicities were evaluated as secondary outcomes. Point estimates and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were calculated and proportions and odds ratios (ORs) pooled using fixed-effects meta-analysis.

RESULTS

We reviewed data on 26,446 adults and 3975 children from eight randomized trials and 26 prospective cohorts. Overall, adults on NVP were more than two times more likely to discontinue treatment due to any adverse event compared to patients on EFV (OR 2.2, 95% CI 1.9-2.6). Severe hepatotoxicity (OR 3.3, 95% CI 2.5-4.2), severe skin toxicity (OR 3.9, 95% CI 2.5-5.4), and severe hypersensitivity reactions (OR 2.4, 95% CI 1.9-2.9) were more likely to occur among patients on NVP. Patients receiving EFV were more likely to experience severe central nervous system events (OR 3.4, 95% CI 2.1-5.4). Similar associations were seen in children.

DISCUSSION

Compared to NVP, EFV is associated with a lower frequency of severe adverse events, in particular treatment discontinuations. This finding supports a move toward EFV-based therapy as the preferred first-line treatment regimen for HIV treatment within a public health approach.

Rates of switching antiretroviral drugs in a primary care service in South Africa before and after introduction of tenofovir

Introduction

Antiretroviral changes (single drug substitutions and regimen switches) limit treatment options and introduce challenges such as increased cost, monitoring and adherence difficulties. Patterns of drug substitutions and regimen switches from stavudine (d4T) and zidovudine (AZT) regimens have been well described but data on tenofovir (TDF) are more limited. This study describes the patterns and risk factors for drug changes of these antiretroviral drugs in adults.

Method

This retrospective cohort study included HIV positive, antiretroviral treatment (ART) naïve adults aged ≥18 years who started ART with two nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) and a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor. Follow-up was censored at first drug change and analysis focused on NRTI changes only.

Results

Between September 2002 and April 2011, 5095 adults initiated ART in Gugulethu. This comprised 948 subjects on TDF, 3438 on d4T and 709 subjects on AZT. Virological suppression rates at 1 year, regimen switching due to virological failure and overall losses to the programme were similar across the three groups. TDF had the lowest incidence rate of drug substitutions (2.6 per 100 P/Ys) compared to 17.9 for d4T and 8.5 per 100 P/Ys for AZT. Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) accounted for the majority of drug substitutions of d4T. Multivariate analysis showed that increasing age, female sex and d4T exposure were associated with increased hazard of drug substitution due to ADRs. Conversely, TDF exposure was associated with a substantially lower risk of substitution (adjusted hazards ratio 0.38; 95% CI 0.20–0.72).

Conclusion

Regimen switches and virological suppression were similar for patients exposed to TDF, d4T and AZT, suggesting all regimens were equally effective. However, TDF was better tolerated with a substantially lower rate of drug substitutions due to ADRs.

The pattern of attrition from an antiretroviral treatment program in Nigeria

Objective

To evaluate the rate and factors associated with attrition of patients receiving ART in tertiary and secondary hospitals in Nigeria.

Methods and Findings

We reviewed patient level data collected between 2007 and 2010 from 11 hospitals across Nigeria. Kaplan-Meier product-limit and Cox regression were used to determine probability of retention in care and risk factors for attrition respectively. Of 6,408 patients in the cohort, 3,839 (59.9%) were females, median age of study population was 33years (IQR: 27–40) and 4,415 (69%) were from secondary health facilities. The NRTI backbone was Stavudine (D4T) in 3708 (57.9%) and Zidovudine (ZDV) in 2613 (40.8%) of patients. Patients lost to follow up accounted for 62.7% of all attrition followed by treatment stops (25.3%) and deaths (12.0%). Attrition was 14.1 (N = 624) and 15.1% (N = 300) in secondary and tertiary hospitals respectively (p = 0.169) in the first 12 months on follow up. During the 13 to 24 months follow up period, attrition was 10.7% (N = 407) and 19.6% (N = 332) in secondary and tertiary facilities respectively (p<0.001). Median time to lost to follow up was 11.1 (IQR: 6.1 to 18.5) months in secondary compared with 13.6 (IQR: 9.9 to 17.0) months in tertiary sites (p = 0.002). At 24 months follow up, male gender [AHR 1.18, 95% CI: 1.01–1.37, P = 0.038]; WHO clinical stage III [AHR 1.30, 95%CI: 1.03–1.66, P = 0.03] and clinical stage IV [AHR 1.90, 95%CI: 1.20–3.02, p = 0.007] and care in a tertiary hospital [AHR 2.21, 95% CI: 1.83–2.67, p<0.001], were associated with attrition.

Conclusion

Attrition could potentially be reduced by decentralizing patients on ART after the first 12 months on therapy to lower level facilities, earlier initiation on treatment and strengthening adherence counseling amongst males.

HIV in Africa: Challenges and Directions for the Next Decade

Africa carries a disproportionate burden of the global HIV endemic, accounting for two thirds of the global 33.3 million people living with HIV. While tremendous advances have been made in addressing the HIV epidemic in Africa, considerable challenges remain. Testing for HIV increased by 86% from 2007 to 2009 but more than 75% of people 15-49 years remain unaware of their HIV status. CD4 count at diagnosis tends to be low and linkage to care and treatment is suboptimal. The scale-up of antiretroviral therapy is ongoing but is hampered by the lack of diagnostic capability to monitor response to therapy and a substantial healthcare workforce shortage. Prevention strategies such as male circumcision, pre-exposure prophylaxis, and antiretroviral therapy for prevention have generated great excitement but cost and healthcare infrastructure deficiencies may limit their widespread applicability. Operational research to validate and inform treatment decisions, health care policies, and prevention strategies is sorely needed.

Mortality in the year following antiretroviral therapy initiation in HIV-infected adults and children in Uganda and Zimbabwe

In low-income countries, children ≥4 years and adults with low CD4 count have equally high mortality risk in the 3 months after initiation of antiretroviral therapy, similar to that of untreated individuals. Bacterial infections play a major role; targeted interventions could have important benefits.

Background. Adult mortality in the first 3 months on antiretroviral therapy (ART) is higher in low-income than in high-income countries, with more similar mortality after 6 months. However, the specific patterns of changing risk and causes of death have rarely been investigated in adults, nor compared with children in low-income countries.

Methods. We used flexible parametric hazard models to investigate how mortality risks varied over the first year on ART in human immunodeficiency virus–infected adults (aged 18–73 years) and children (aged 4 months to 15 years) in 2 trials in Zimbabwe and Uganda.

Results. One hundred seventy-nine of 3316 (5.4%) adults and 39 of 1199 (3.3%) children died; half of adult/pediatric deaths occurred in the first 3 months. Mortality variation over year 1 was similar; at all CD4 counts/CD4%, mortality risk was greatest between days 30 and 50, declined rapidly to day 180, then declined more slowly. One-year mortality after initiating ART with 0–49, 50–99 or ≥100 CD4 cells/μL was 9.4%, 4.5%, and 2.9%, respectively, in adults, and 10.1%, 4.4%, and 1.3%, respectively, in children aged 4–15 years. Mortality in children aged 4 months to 3 years initiating ART in equivalent CD4% strata was also similar (0%–4%: 9.1%; 5%–9%: 4.5%; ≥10%: 2.8%). Only 10 of 179 (6%) adult deaths and 1 of 39 (3%) child deaths were probably medication-related. The most common cause of death was septicemia/meningitis in adults (20%, median 76 days) and children (36%, median 79 days); pneumonia also commonly caused child deaths (28%, median 41 days).

Conclusions. Children ≥4 years and adults with low CD4 values have remarkably similar, and high, mortality risks in the first 3 months after ART initiation in low-income countries, similar to cohorts of untreated individuals. Bacterial infections are a major cause of death in both adults and children; targeted interventions could have important benefits.

Prevalence of HIV-Associated Metabolic Abnormalities among Patients Taking First-Line Antiretroviral Therapy in Uganda

Introduction. While the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy decreased HIV-related morbidity and mortality rates in the sub-Saharan Africa, a subsequent increase in metabolic abnormalities has been observed. We sought to determine the prevalence of HIV-associated metabolic abnormalities among patients on first-line antiretroviral therapy (ART) in an ART clinic in Kampala, Uganda. Methods. Four hundred forty-two consecutive patients on first-line ART for at least 12 months were screened for eligibility in a cross-sectional study, and 423 were enrolled. Pre-ART patient characteristics were abstracted from medical charts, examinations included anthropometric measurement and physical assessment for lipodystrophy. Results. The prevalence of hyperglycemia and dyslipidemia was 16.3% (69/423) and 81.5% (345/423), respectively. Prevalence of dyslipidemia between stavudine- and zidovudine-based regimens (91% versus 72%; P < 0.001). Being on stavudine (aOR 4.79, 95%, 2.45-9.38) and peak body weight (aOR 1.44, 95% CI 1.05-1.97) were independent risk factors for dylipidemia. Stavudine (aOR 0.50, 95% CI  0.27-0.93) use was associated with lower risk for hyperglycemia while, and older age (aOR 1.31, 95% CI 1.11-1.56) and having a family history of DM (aOR 2.18, 95% CI 1.10-4.34) were independent risk factors for hyperglycemia. Conclusions. HIV-associated metabolic complications were prevalent among patients on thymidine analogue-containing ART regimens. Screening for lipid and glucose abnormalities should be considered in ART patients because of cardiovascular risks.

Stavudine toxicity in adult longer-term ART patients in Blantyre, Malawi

BACKGROUND

Stavudine is an effective and inexpensive antiretroviral drug, but no longer recommended by WHO for first-line antiretroviral regimens in resource-limited settings due to toxicity concerns. Because of the high cost of alternative drugs, it has not been feasible to replace stavudine in most adults in the Malawi ART programme. We aimed to provide policy makers with a detailed picture of stavudine toxicities in Malawians on longer-term ART, in order to facilitate prioritization of stavudine replacement among other measures to improve the quality of ART programmes.

METHODS

Prospective cohort of Malawian adults who had just completed one year of stavudine containing ART in an urban clinic, studying peripheral neuropathy, lipodystrophy, diabetes mellitus, high lactate syndromes, pancreatitis and dyslipidemia during 12 months follow up. Stavudine dosage was 30 mg irrespective of weight. Cox regression was used to determine associations with incident toxicities.

RESULTS

253 patients were enrolled, median age 36 years, 62.5% females. Prevalence rates (95%-confidence interval) of toxicities after one year on stavudine were: peripheral neuropathy 21.3% (16.5-26.9), lipodystrophy 14.7% (2.4-8.1), high lactate syndromes 0.0% (0-1.4), diabetes mellitus 0.8% (0-2.8), pancreatitis 0.0% (0-1.5). Incidence rates per 100 person-years (95%-confidence interval) during the second year on stavudine were: peripheral neuropathy 19.8 (14.3-26.6), lipodystrophy 11.4 (7.5-16.3), high lactate syndromes 2.1 (0.7-4.9), diabetes mellitus 0.4 (0.0-1.4), pancreatitis 0.0 (0.0-0.2). Prevalence of hypercholesterolemia and hypertriglyceridemia increased from 12.1% to 21.1% and from 29.5% to 37.6% respectively between 12 and 24 months. 5.5% stopped stavudine, 1.3% died and 4.0% defaulted during follow up. Higher age was an independent risk factor for incident peripheral neuropathy and lipodystrophy.

CONCLUSION

Stavudine associated toxicities continued to accumulate during the second year of ART, especially peripheral neuropathy and lipodystrophy and more so at increasing age. Our findings support investments for replacing stavudine in first-line regimens in sub-Saharan Africa.

Antiretroviral therapy in Indian setting: when & what to start with, when & what to switch to?

With the rapid scale up of antiretroviral therapy, there is a dramatic decline in HIV related morbidity and mortality in both developed and developing countries. Several new safe antiretroviral, and newer class of drugs and monitoring assays are developed recently. As a result the treatment guideline for the management of HIV disease continue to change. This review focuses on evolving science on Indian policy - antiretroviral therapy initiation, which drugs to start with, when to change the initial regimen and what to change.

Increased incidence of symptomatic peripheral neuropathy among adults receiving stavudine- versus zidovudine-based antiretroviral regimens in Kenya

The incidence of peripheral neuropathy (PN) among adults initiating antiretroviral therapy (ART) containing stavudine (d4T) versus zidovudine (ZDV) is not well described. We compared 1-year incidence between d4T- and ZDV-based regimens in adults initiating ART in a programmatic setting in Kenya. Of 1,848 adults on ART, 1,579 (85 %) initiated d4T-based and 269 (15 %) initiated ZDV-based regimens. One-year incidence of symptomatic PN per 100 person-years was 21.9 (n=236) among d4T users and 6.9 (n=7) among ZDV users (P=0.0002). D4T was associated with 2.7 greater risk of PN than ZDV (adjusted hazard ratio, 2.7, P=0.009). In settings with continued d4T use, such as Africa, the effects of d4T on PN compared to ZDV should be considered when choosing ART regimens.

Time for gender mainstreaming in editorial policies

The HIV epidemic has been continuously growing among women, and in some parts of the world, HIV-infected women outnumber men. Women's greater vulnerability to HIV, both biologically and socially, influences their health risk and health outcome. This disparity between sexes has been established for other diseases, for example, autoimmune diseases, malignancies and cardiovascular diseases. Differences in drug effects and treatment outcomes have also been demonstrated. Despite proven sex and gender differences, women continue to be underrepresented in clinical trials, and the absence of gender analyses in published literature is striking. There is a growing advocacy for consideration of women in research, in particular in the HIV field, and gender mainstreaming of policies is increasingly called for. However, these efforts have not translated into improved reporting of sex-disaggregated data and provision of gender analysis in published literature; science editors, as well as publishers, lag behind in this effort.Instructions for authors issued by journals contain many guidelines for good standards of reporting, and a policy on sex-disaggregated data and gender analysis should not be amiss here. It is time for editors and publishers to demonstrate leadership in changing the paradigm in the world of scientific publication. We encourage authors, peer reviewers and fellow editors to lend their support by taking necessary measures to substantially improve reporting of gender analysis. Editors' associations could play an essential role in facilitating a transition to improved standard editorial policies.