Selected highlights from the 4th International Workshop on Adverse Drug Reactions and Lipodystrophy in HIV
Having higher-than-normal levels of blood sugar (glucose) is a problem that can occur in HAART users, particularly in those PHAs who take protease inhibitors. To find out just how common this problem is, researchers in Milan, Italy, conducted a large study with 1,481 subjects who had the following profile:
Subjects were monitored for almost two years while they took anti-HIV therapy.
Regular blood testing found that only a relatively small number of subjects (32 out of 1,481) developed abnormal blood sugar readings. Eight of the 32 subjects had to temporarily stop taking HAART because of severe blood sugar problems. In each year of the study, the following proportion of the 32 subjects developed this complication:
Thus, high blood sugar levels developed in 43% of subjects after their first year on anti-HIV therapy. The researchers, noting the delayed development of this problem in some subjects, suggest that PHAs who have risk factors for high blood sugar (a family history of diabetes, high lipid levels) need close monitoring to catch blood sugar problems early on before they become serious and lead to complications and interruptions in therapy.
REFERENCE
Quirino T, Bonfanti P, Faggion I, et al. Glucose metabolism abnormalities associated with highly active antiretroviral therapy: a cohort study. Abstract 35.
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