HIV or AIDS

Meeting Reviews Roles of Drug Abuse and Risky Behavior in HIV

More than 400 researchers and clinicians gathered in Bethesda, Maryland, May 8-9 to discuss the impact of drug abuse on the spread of HIV. NIDA sponsored the meeting in collaboration with other National Institutes of Health agencies and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Drug and alcohol abuse can prompt poor judgment and actions that people might not engage in otherwise, for example, risky sexual behaviors with infected partners. Drug abuse also may increase HIV transmission when abusers trade sex for drugs or money. The increased risk of HIV related to drug abuse extends beyond

HIV Patients Show Better Immune Recovery With Early Initiation of HAART

Among 655 men and women with HIV, CD4+ count at HAART initiation predicted subsequent recovery of this important immune system cell. Patients receiving HAART showed an improvement after 4 years of treatment and maintained these levels for the next two. The researchers note, however, that those who began treatment after their CD4+ levels fell below 350 cells/ul failed to recover to normal levels. To achieve better recovery, the authors suggest HAART therapy be initiated when the CD4+ cell count is greater than 350 cells/ul. Source Moore, R.D. and Keruly, J.C. CD4+ cell count 6 years after

Researchers Report on Progress of NIDA's Southern Africa Initiative

Research projects conducted under NIDA's Southern Africa Initiative help universities and other organizations in southern Africa build research capacity and infrastructure in the area of addiction, particularly drug-related HIV transmission. The Initiative, administered by NIDA's Special Populations Office (SPO) with assistance from the International Program, comprises 12 research projects. NIDA-funded investigators based in the United States and African collaborators recently reported on the progress of their projects, most of which have taken place or are ongoing in the Republic of South

Morphine Speeds AIDS Onset in Monkeys

Dr. Anil Kumar and colleagues at the Ponce School of Medicine, Puerto Rico, have discovered key ways in which morphine may accelerate the progression of AIDS: The drug increases both viral replication and alterations in a particular part of the virus's coating. Monkeys exposed to long-term morphine administration—20 weeks prior to infection with simian/human immunodeficiency virus (SIV/SHIV) and throughout the 56-week study period—progressed to AIDS faster and showed more signs of compromised immune systems than comparison animals. Of the morphine-exposed animals that developed AIDS, three

Selenium Shows Promise as an Adjunct Therapy for HIV

Daily selenium supplements could serve as a useful adjunct therapy for HIV infection by holding HIV-1 viral load in check and elevating levels of infection-fighting CD4 cells. A randomized controlled trial, led by Dr. Barry Hurwitz of the University of Miami, included 262 HIV-infected men and women. After 9 months of treatment, greater increases of serum selenium predicted lower HIV viral load and greater CD4 cell count. Notably, of the 141 selenium-treated participants, the 50 whose selenium levels increased by 26.1 mg/L or more displayed no increase in HIV viral load, and their

Research Addresses Needs of Criminal Justice Staff and Offenders

NIDA established the Criminal Justice-Drug Abuse Treatment Studies (CJ-DATS) project in 2002 to reduce substance abuse and recidivism among offenders following their release from jail or prison. CJ-DATS investigators in nine research centers collaborate with criminal justice partners to fashion and test science-based, practical tools for integrating drug abuse treatment in the Nation's prisons and probation and parole programs. Dr. Bennett Fletcher serves as CJ-DATS program scientist and provides NIDA input to the network's planning and decisionmaking. According to Dr. Fletcher, "As many as

Conferees Discuss Ways to Eliminate Disparities in Care

Many African-American and Latino drug abusers with HIV and hepatitis C (HCV) avoid screening and treatment for their infection because they distrust the health care system and fear discrimination on the part of providers, according to NIDA-funded researcher Dr. Carmen Masson and colleagues at the University of California, San Francisco. This and other barriers to care faced by minorities and the poor were discussed at the National Institutes of Health Summit on the Science of Eliminating Health Disparities, held December 16-18, 2008, in National Harbor, Maryland. The summit brought together

Three Scientists Receive Grants for Innovative AIDS Research

NIDA announced the first three recipients of its new Avant-Garde Award, which supports groundbreaking research to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS in drug abusers. The awardees will each receive $500,000 per year for 5 years. Julio Montaner, M.D., head of the Division of AIDS at the University of British Columbia and director of the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS in Vancouver, will study HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention outcomes in injection drug users (IDUs). Current evidence indirectly suggests that expanded use of the therapy known as highly active antiretroviral treatment

Study Gives Green Light to Antiretroviral Medications for HIV-Infected Injection Drug Users

Limited access, financial constraints, and stigma—rather than lifestyle—may be the main obstacles keeping HIV-infected injection drug users from obtaining the benefit of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). In a prospective study in a setting of universally guaranteed health care, including free medications for the indigent, mortality rates from HIV in infected people who used illicit injection drugs and those who did not use injection drugs were nearly identical over the 5 years following HAART initiation. In 2006, 205,000 injection drug users were living with HIV in the United

NIDA's 35th Anniversary: Science Focused on Solutions

Congress created the National Institute on Drug Abuse in 1974 to bring the power of science to bear against a burgeoning epidemic of drug abuse and addiction. The wisdom of that decision is evident in today's roster of proven effective interventions to prevent and treat addiction and in the increased public understanding that addiction is a chronic brain disease rather than a moral failure. Since its inception, NIDA has funded and guided a comprehensive program of basic and clinical research involving many of the Nation's premier scientists and clinicians. Our goal is to apply the fruits of

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