Association of depression and antidepressant therapy with antiretroviral therapy adherence and health-related quality of life in men who have sex with men.

UNAIDS' HIV treatment targets require that 90% of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) receiving antiretroviral treatment (ART) achieve viral suppression and 90% of people with viral suppression have good health-related quality of life (HRQOL). This study aimed to examine the association of depression and antidepressant therapy with ART adherence and HRQOL in HIV-infected men who have sex with men (MSM). From 2018 through 2020, HIV-infected MSMs were consecutively recruited (N = 565) for the evaluation of ART adherence and HRQOL at Taipei City Hospital HIV clinics. Non-adherence to ART was defined as a Medication Adherence Report Scale score of < 23. HRQOL in PLWHHA was evaluated using WHOQOL-BREF, Taiwan version. Overall, 14.0% had depression and 12.4% exhibited non-adherence to ART. The nonadherence proportion was 21.8% and 10.5% in depressed and nondepressed HIV-infected MSM, respectively. After adjusting for other covariates, depression was associated with a higher risk of nonadherence to ART (adjusted odds ratio = 2.02; 95% confidence interval: 1.02-4.00). Physical, psychological, social, and environmental HRQOL were significantly negatively associated with depression. Considering antidepressant therapy, ART nonadherence was significantly associated with depression without antidepressant therapy but not with antidepressant therapy. The depressed HIV-infected MSM without antidepressant therapy had worse psychological, social, and environmental HRQOL than those with antidepressant therapy. Our study suggests that depression is associated with poor ART adherence and HRQOL, particularly in those without antidepressant therapy. Adequate diagnosis and treatment of depression should be provided for PLWHA to improve their ART adherence and HRQOL.

Methamphetamine Use Associated with Non-adherence to Antiretroviral Treatment in Men Who Have Sex with Men.

Methamphetamine is a prevalent recreational drug among men who have sex with men (MSM) living with HIV and could cause the cognitive impairment and memory loss. However, studies on the association between methamphetamine use and adherence to antiretroviral treatment (ART) are limited and had inconsistent findings. This study aimed to determine the impact of methamphetamine use on adherence to ART among MSM living with HIV. From December 2018 to October 2019, MSM living with HIV were recruited (N = 351) and non-adherence to ART was defined as a Medication Adherence Report Scale score of <23. Overall, 16.0% of the participants reported methamphetamine use in the prior three months and 13.4% of the participants had non-adherence to ART. The proportion of non-adherence to ART among HIV-positive MSM were 28.6% and 10.5% with and without methamphetamine use, respectively. After controlling for demographics, illicit drug use, and co-morbidities, methamphetamine use during the prior three months was associated with a higher risk of non-adherence to ART (adjusted odds ratio = 3.08; 95% confidence intervals: 1.24-7.69). Compared with HIV-positive MSM with non-adherence to ART, HIV-positive MSM with good adherence to ART had a higher CD4 counts and were more likely to achieve an undetectable viral load. Since poor adherence to ART is associated with an increased HIV viral load and the risk of HIV transmission to others, our study suggests that it is imperative to screen HIV-positive patients for methamphetamine use and to provide effective therapy to reduce methamphetamine use and the associated non-adherence to ART.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus Increases the Risk of Incident Heart Failure.

BACKGROUND: Although the HIV can cause myocardial inflammation, the association of HIV infection with subsequent development of heart failure (HF) has not been extensively studied. This nationwide cohort study aimed to determine the risk of incident HF in people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). METHODS: We identified PLWHA using the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control and Prevention HIV Surveillance System. An age- and sex-matched control group without HIV infection was selected from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database for comparison. All patients were followed up until December 2014 and were observed for a new diagnosis of HF. A time-dependent Cox proportional hazards model was used to determine the association of HIV and highly active antiretroviral therapy with incident HF, with death as a competing risk event. RESULTS: Of the 120,765 patients (24,153 PLWHA and 96,612 matched controls), 641 (0.53%) had incident HF during a mean follow-up period of 5.84 years, including 192 (0.79%) PLWHA and 449 (0.46%) controls. Time to diagnosis of incident HF was significantly shorter in PLWHA than in those without HIV infection (P < 0.001, the log-rank test). After adjusting for age, sex, and comorbidities, HIV infection was found to be an independent risk factor for incident HF (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.52; 95% confidence interval: 1.27 to 1.82). As the duration of highly active antiretroviral therapy increased, the risk of HF decreased (P = 0.014). CONCLUSIONS: HIV infection was an independent risk factor for incident HF. Clinicians need to be aware of the higher risk of HF in PLWHA.

Prevalence of different carbapenemase genes among carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii blood isolates in Taiwan.

Background: Although the prevalence of the carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii (CRAB) has increased in Taiwan, few studies have elucidated the prevalence of different carbapenemase genes in Taiwan. The first objective of this study was to identify the types and prevalence of different carbapenemase genes, and the second objective was to determine the carbapenem antimicrobial susceptibility of carbapenemase producing isolates. Methods: In total, 269 CRAB blood isolates from four medical centres in Taiwan from 1/1/2009 to 31/12/2013 were analysed. Antimicrobial susceptibilities were determined using the Vitek 2 system. Carbapenemase genes were identified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequencing. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) was used to identify the different pulsotypes. Results: All 269 CRAB isolates had the blaOXA-51-like gene, while 237 (88.1%) had the blaOXA-23-like gene, and 11 (4.09%) had the blaOXA-24-like gene. Twenty-one CRAB isolates (7.81%) contained only the blaOXA-51-like gene. None of the isolates had the blaOXA-58-like gene or the metallo-ß-lactamases (MBL)-encoding genes. In 28.69% of isolates with the blaOXA-23-like gene and 90.91% of isolates with the blaOXA-24-like gene, the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) for imipenem were 64 mg/L or more. In 37.55% of isolates with the blaOXA-23-like gene and 100% of isolates with the blaOXA-24-like gene, meropenem MICs were 64 mg/L or more. PFGE analyses indicated that six highly similar genomes which harbored the blaOXA-24-like gene came from three different medical centres. Conclusion: Our study determined the prevalence of CRAB, the types and prevalence of carbapenemase genes, carbapenem susceptibility among CRAB isolates, and documented that the blaOXA-24-like gene had greater resistance to carbapenem than the blaOXA-23-like gene. We also demonstrated inter-hospital transmission of the highly resistant blaOXA-24-like gene.