Newsletter
Volume 7, Issue 3
July – September 2020
Check out the current issue of URBAN ARCH News, the quarterly newsletter bringing you news on the latest URBAN ARCH and related research.
URBAN ARCH Addressing Social Determinants of Health
In this edition of the URBAN ARCH Newsletter, we highlight how URBAN ARCH investigators have examined social determinants of health over the years.
2021 URBAN ARCH Annual Meeting
The tenth URBAN ARCH Annual Meeting will be held virtually on March 17, 2021. Click here for our Save the Date information.
In The News
New Supplements: The URBAN ARCH Boston, Uganda, and Russia Cohorts were all awarded supplements to study issues related to COVID-19! Information on these supplements can be found here.
In this issue, we interview Michael Winter, MPH, the Associate Director of Statistical Programming at the Biostatistics and Epidemiology Data Analysis Center at Boston University School of Public Health, and member of the URBAN ARCH BDM Core.
Click on the buttons to see what the URBAN ARCH Cohorts and Cores have been working on.
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- Muyindike WR, Fatch R, Cheng DM, Emenyonu NI, Ngabirano C, Adong J, Linas BP, Jacobson KR, Hahn JA. Tuberculin skin test positivity among HIV-infected alcohol drinkers on antiretrovirals in south-western Uganda. PLoS One. 2020;15(7):e0235261. PMCID: PMC7332058.
- Tindle HA, Freiberg MS, Gnatienko N, Blokhina E, Cheng DM, Yaroslavtseva T, Bendiks S, Winter M, Krupitsky E, Samet JH. Design of a randomized controlled trial of smoking cessation medications for alcohol reduction among HIV-positive heavy drinkers and daily smokers in St. Petersburg, Russia. Contemp Clin Trials Commun. 2020;19:100625.
Article Spotlight
Among People Living With HIV, Very High Levels of Alcohol Consumption are Associated With Latent Tuberculosis Infection
People living with HIV (PLWH) are at increased risk of tuberculosis (TB) disease, but little is known about the extent to which alcohol consumption effects this association. URBAN ARCH researchers in Uganda conducted a cross-sectional study among adult PLWH to evaluate the association between unhealthy alcohol use and latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI), assessed by tuberculin skin test (TST). Participants were receiving antiretroviral therapy for ≥ 6 months, had no history of TB, and had unhealthy alcohol use.*
- Of 729 participants enrolled, 617 returned for a TST reading and were included in the analysis. Of these, 217 (35%) tested positive for LTBI.
- LTBI prevalence was highest among participants with “very high” levels of alcohol use (77/170, 45%), compared with those with “high” (62/191, 33%) and “medium” levels of use (78/256, 31%).
- In multivariable analysis, “very high” levels of alcohol use were associated with TST-positivity compared with “medium” levels of use (adjusted odds ratio, 1.61).
* Determined by urine dipstick ethyl glucuronide (alcohol biomarker) test (cutoff: ≥ 300 ng/mL), and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Consumption (AUDIT-C); scores classified levels of alcohol consumption thus: “medium” (4-5 for men, 3-5 for women), “high” (6-7), and “very high” (8-12).
Comments: Alcohol use is a measurable and modifiable risk factor for latent TB infection and TB disease. This finding of increasing prevalence of LTBI at the highest levels of unhealthy alcohol use among PLWH suggests that their increased risk of TB disease may be attributable, in part, to higher rates of LTBI. Future studies should investigate the mechanisms underlying this association.
Reference: Puryear, SB, Fatch R, Beesiga B, Kekibiina A, Lodi S, Marson K, Emenyonu N, Muyindike WR, Kwarisiima D, Hahn JA, Chamie G. Higher levels of alcohol use are associated with latent tuberculosis infection in adults living with HIV. Clin Infect Dis. 2020;ciaa527.
Selected NIH Notices and Funding Opportunities
Click here for more funding announcements related to HIV and alcohol research.
- Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI): March 6-10, 2021. Abstract submission deadline: December 1, 2020.
- International Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism (ISBRA): June, 2021; San Antonio, Texas. Joint with RSA.
- Research Society on Alcoholism (RSA): June, 2021; San Antonio, Texas. Joint with ISBRA.
- College on Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD): June 19-23, 2021. Abstract submission deadline: December 17, 2020.
- 11th IAS Conference on HIV Science (IAS 2021): July 18-21, 2021. Berlin, Germany.
Click here for more events and conferences.