URBAN ARCH Newsletter

Volume 5, Issue 1

January 2018 – March 2018

Check out the current issue of URBAN ARCH News, the quarterly newsletter bringing you news based on the latest URBAN ARCH and related research.

Highlights of URBAN ARCH Collaborations

This issue of the URBAN ARCH quarterly newsletter focuses on the achievements of URBAN ARCH and its collaborations. Click here to learn more. 

In the News

• Roundtable accepted at Research Society on Alcoholism (RSA) 2018: “Alcohol and Health: Essential Knowledge For Health Professions.” Margaret Murray is organizing the roundtable, and Jeffrey Samet will be a speaker.  
• Roundtable accepted at Research Society on Alcoholism (RSA) 2018: “Publishing Alcohol Clinical Science.” Richard Saitz is organizing the roundtable, and Jeffrey Samet will be a speaker.
• Abstract accepted for a poster presentation at the College on Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD) 2018: Recent cannabis use and advanced liver fibrosis among HIV-infected heavy drinkers (Fuster et al.)

On The Ground

Click on the buttons to see what the URBAN ARCH Cohorts and Cores have been working on.

Save the Date for the 2018 URBAN ARCH Annual Meeting

The seventh URBAN ARCH Annual Meeting will be held on March 27-28, 2018. Contact carly.bridden@bmc.org for more details or RSVP here.

New URBAN ARCH Publications 

• Coleman SM, Gnatienko N, Lloyd-Travaglini CA, Winter MR, Bridden C, Blokhina E, Lioznov D, Adong J, Samet JH, Liegler T, Hahn JA. False positive HIV diagnoses: Lessons from Ugandan and Russian research cohorts. HIV Clin Trials. 2018;19(1):15-22.
• Freiman JM, Jacobson KR, Muyindike WR, Horsburgh CR, Ellner JJ, Hahn JA, Linas BP. Isoniazid preventive therapy for people with HIV who are heavy alcohol drinkers in high TB-/HIV-burden countries: A risk–benefit analysis. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2018;77(4):405-412. PMCID: PMC5825241
• Hahn JA, Cheng DM, Emenyonu NI, Lloyd-Travaglini C, Fatch R, Shade SB, Ngabirano C, Adong J, Bryant K, Muyindike WR, Samet JH. Alcohol use and HIV disease progression in an antiretroviral naïve cohort. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2018;77(5):492-501. PMCID: PMC5844835.
• Kim TW, Walley AY, Ventura AS, Patts GJ, Heeren TC, Lerner GB, Mauricio N, Saitz R. Polypharmacy and risk of falls and fractures for patients with HIV infection and substance dependence. AIDS Care. 2018;30(2):150-159.

Article Spotlight
This section highlights and provides brief summaries of URBAN ARCH research and their clinical significance.

Alcohol Use Has No Effect on HIV Disease Progression in an Antiretroviral Naïve Cohort

In experimental studies among macaques, alcohol use has been shown to accelerate disease progression of simian immunodeficiency virus, but the results in observational studies of HIV have been conflicting. URBAN ARCH researchers conducted a prospective cohort study of the impact of unhealthy alcohol use on CD4 cell count among 446 HIV-infected persons in southwestern Uganda not yet eligible for antiretroviral treatment (ART). Unhealthy alcohol consumption was assessed by self-report and verified by phosphatidylethanol (an alcohol biomarker).

• At baseline, 43% of participants had unhealthy alcohol use and the median CD4 cell count was 550 cells/mm.
• The estimated CD4 cell count decline per year was -14.5 cells/mm for those with unhealthy drinking compared with -24.0 cells/mm for those refraining from unhealthy drinking. There was no significant difference in decline by unhealthy alcohol use, adjusting for age, sex, religion, time since HIV diagnosis, and HIV viral load.

Conclusion: Unhealthy alcohol use had no apparent impact on the short-term rate of CD4 count decline among this cohort. These results suggest that the impact of unhealthy alcohol use on HIV outcomes may be via mechanisms other than immune response, such as reduced treatment adherence and chronic inflammation.

Reference: Hahn JA, Cheng DM, Emenyonu NI, et al. Alcohol use and HIV disease progression in an antiretroviral naïve cohort.  J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2018;77(5):492-501. PMCID: PMC5844835.

Article Spotlight summary by URBAN ARCH editor Katherine Calver, PhD

Selected NIH Notices and Funding Opportunities

• CFAR Spring 2018 Developmental Grant Program (Full RFA)
  Center for AIDS Research
  Application Due Date: April 2, 2018
• Improving Implementation of Seek, Test, Treat & Retain Strategies among People Who Inject Drugs in Low to Middle Income Countries (R01 Clinical Trial Required) (RFA-DA-18-017)
  National Institute of Drug Abuse
  Application Due Date: April 13, 2018      
• Research on the Health of Women of Understudied, Underrepresented and Underreported (U3) Populations (PA-18-676)
  National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
  Application Due Date: April 16, 2018                                                                         

Click here for more funding announcements related to HIV and alcohol research.

Events and Conferences

Please email Carly Bridden if you will be attending any these meetings, so we can connect you with our investigators.

• Society of General Internal Medicine (SGIM): April 11-14, 2018; Denver, CO.
• American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM): Apr 12-15, 2018; San Diego, CA.
• Research Society on Alcoholism (RSA): June 16-20, 2018. San Diego, CA. 
• International AIDS Society (IAS) Conference: July 23-27, 2018; Amsterdam, Netherlands. 

Click here for more events and conferences.