MONDAY, Feb. 13 -- HIV-positive patients with larger waistlines may be at greater risk for memory problems, according to a new study. Exposure to combinations of certain anti-HIV drugs could play a role in this reduced mental function, researchers said.

"Interestingly, bigger waistlines were linked to decreased mental functioning more than was general obesity," said study author Dr. J. Allen McCutchan, at the University of California, San Diego, in a journal news release. "This is important because certain anti-HIV drugs cause weight gain in the center of the body that is most dramatic in the abdomen, neck, chest and breasts."

Researchers looked at 130 HIV-positive patients who were about 46 years old and who had been infected for an average of 13 years. Most patients were on antiretroviral therapy consisting of combinations of anti-HIV drugs.

Forty percent of the participants had "neurocognitive impairment" -- reduced mental function such as poor memory and/or concentration. These patients also had a waist measuring an average of 39 inches.

In contrast, patients with normal mental function had an average waist size of 35 inches.

The study appears in the Feb. 14 issue of the journal Neurology.

"Avoiding those HIV drugs that cause larger waistlines might protect or help to reverse [mental impairment]," McCutchan said. "We don't know if central obesity is causing [the problem] directly or is just a marker for exposure to a more direct cause such as anti-HIV drugs. People with HIV should talk to their doctors before considering changes in their anti-HIV medications."

The study authors pointed out that reduced mental function was also linked to older age, a longer time living with HIV and diabetes in patients older than 55.

-- Mary Elizabeth Dallas

SOURCE: Neurology, news release, Feb. 7, 2012

FRIDAY, Feb. 10 -- There's little evidence linking disease severity or antiretroviral treatment with the degree of psychiatric symptoms in HIV-positive children and teens infected around the time of birth, according to a new study.

Some experts were concerned that more severe HIV illness -- the virus that causes AIDS -- or use of specific highly active antiretroviral therapy regimens might increase the risk of mental health problems in HIV-infected youth, noted the researchers at Stony Brook University in New York.

To examine this issue, they analyzed data collected from 319 HIV-infected youngsters, aged 6 to 17, during a two-year study. One-third of the patients met the criteria for at least one psychiatric disorder.

"Analyses of HIV disease variables and severity of psychiatric symptoms revealed few specific associations, and we feel compelled to emphasize that findings were variable, mixed and at times counterintuitive," Dr. Sharon Nachman and colleagues wrote.

For example, regarding CD4 (infection-fighting cells), the researchers found that a lower entry CD4 percentage was associated with less severe depression in the patients, but a higher entry RNA viral load was associated with more severe depression.

The Stony Brook team did find some evidence of a link between certain HIV variables (such as lower nadir CD4 percentage) and quality of life and cognitive, social and academic abilities.

"We found that more severe HIV disease (indicated by the nadir CD4 percentage) was associated with worse cognitive functioning and social skills, but our analyses do not allow us to make causal inferences about these associations," the researchers wrote.

"Our data, in conjunction with findings from other groups, suggest that receptive language, word recognition and educational problems are common in youth with perinatal HIV infection regardless of virologic suppression," they said in a university news release.

The study was published online Feb. 6 in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

-- Robert Preidt

SOURCE: JAMA/Archives journals, news release, Feb. 6, 2012

FRIDAY, Feb. 10 -- Many gay men who regularly have risky sex would be willing to ask partners to use a new, rapid-result HIV test, a new study shows.

HIV is the virus that causes AIDS.

The tests, which use a mouth swab and detect HIV antibodies in less than 20 minutes, are currently used in testing clinics across the United States. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of the tests for public use is pending, according to the researchers at the HIV Center at Columbia Psychiatry and the New York State Psychiatric Institute.

The researchers interviewed 57 gay and bisexual men, aged 18 and older, who said they had multiple male partners and rarely or never used condoms. Most of the men said they liked the idea of using the test kits to screen sexual partners.

The researchers also found that most of the men said they would likely ask partners to take an HIV test and might consider safe sex measures if the partner's response raised doubts about his HIV status.

The study was slated for online publication in February in the Journal of Sex Research.

The tests do not detect the initial, acute stage of HIV infection that lasts for a few weeks, but "for men who are already having a high level of unprotected intercourse with multiple partners, access to a rapid HIV test that can be performed at home may prove to be a valuable harm-reduction tool," principal investigator Alex Carballo-Dieguez, a clinical psychologist, said in a Columbia news release.

The researchers noted that an HIV home test could also protect heterosexual people who have risky sex.

-- Robert Preidt

SOURCE: Columbia Psychiatry, news release, Feb. 1, 2012

MONDAY, Jan. 30 -- Pregnant women with HIV can prevent passing the AIDS-causing virus to their babies by taking antiretroviral drugs, but there remains a possibility that some of these medications might cause birth defects, such as cleft lip and palate, according to a new study.

Antiretroviral drugs have been found to reduce the risk of mothers passing HIV on to their children from between 15 and 25 percent to less than 1 percent. These drugs, however, are still under investigation and not considered safe during pregnancy, the study authors noted.

To analyze the possible association between antiretroviral drugs and birth defects, Vassiliki Cartsos, an associate professor and director of graduate orthodontics at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine in Boston, and colleagues examined five years of adverse events compiled by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Their findings are published in the January issue of Cleft Palate--Craniofacial Journal.

The investigators found seven antiretroviral drugs were associated with 26 incidents of cleft lip and palate. However, the authors noted, uncovering an association does not prove a cause-and-effect relationship.

In other words, although the study findings should serve as a red flag, the researchers pointed out that the findings do not confirm that the antiretroviral drugs caused the birth defects.

Those drugs included lamivudine (Epivir); efavirenz (known as EFV); nelfinavir (Viracept); and the combination of abacavir (Ziagen), sulfate, lamivudine and zidovudine (Retrovir).

The study authors concluded in a journal news release that more research is needed to determine if there is a link between antiretroviral drugs and cleft lip and palate, a congenital malformation believed to have several causes, including genetic and environmental factors.

-- Mary Elizabeth Dallas

SOURCE: Cleft Palate--Craniofacial Journal, news release, Jan. 26, 2012

MONDAY, Jan. 30 -- Having a pet helps women with HIV/AIDS cope with their condition and may also help those with other chronic diseases, a new study says.

Researchers conducted 12 focus groups with 48 women with HIV/AIDS to find out how they stay healthy. The women, whose average age was 42, said that five social roles helped them manage their illness.

These roles included being: a pet owner; a mother/grandmother; faith believer; an advocate and an employee.

The study also found that being stigmatized had a negative impact because it prevented women from revealing their illness and seeking out appropriate supports, the Case Western Reserve University researchers said.

The finding about the benefits of being a pet owner was a surprise, said study author and nursing instructor Allison Webel.

"Pets -- primarily dogs -- gave these women a sense of support and pleasure," Webel said in a university news release.

Speaking about their pets, one cat owner said, "She's going to be right there when I'm hurting," while a dog owner said, "Dogs know when you're in a bad mood ... she knows that I'm sick, and everywhere I go, she goes. She wants to protect me."

Webel noted that the human and animal bond in healing and therapy is receiving increasing recognition and more animals are visiting nursing homes to connect to people with dementia, or visiting children going through long hospital stays.

The study appears online in the January-February issue of Women's Health Issues.

-- Robert Preidt

SOURCE: Case Western Reserve University, news release, Jan. 23, 2012