Heavy Drinking May Quicken HIV Progression

Unhealthy alcohol use and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are both prevalent conditions and frequently co-exist. The relationship between unhealthy alcohol use and HIV disease progression, however, is poorly understood.

To explore this relationship, researchers randomized 32 male rhesus macaques to receive, on 4 consecutive days per week for the entire study, either a sucrose solution or an ethanol solution (enough to achieve a plasma concentration of 50 to 60 mM). After 3 months, 16 of the macaques (8 in the ethanol group and 8 in the sucrose group) were inoculated with simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV).

• The ethanol and sucrose groups did not differ on serum chemistries or blood counts before SIV inoculation.
• Neither ethanol treatment nor SIV inoculation significantly affected body weight, serum chemistries, or blood counts, including CD4 cell counts.
• Of the macaques with SIV, plasma viral load was significantly higher in the ethanol group (448+28 copies/mL) than in the sucrose group (362+22copies/mL) 30 to 120 days after inoculation.
• SIV disease progression, characterized by conditions such as persistent anorexia and opportunistic infection, was much quicker in the ethanol group (median survival of 374 days) than in the sucrose group (median survival of 900 days).

Comments:

This study in an animal model of HIV disease suggests that heavy alcohol use among people infected with HIV would increase viral load and accelerate disease progression. These results support the practice of identifying and addressing unhealthy alcohol use in patients with HIV.

Joseph Conigliaro, MD, MPH

Reference:

Bagby GJ, Zhang P, Purcell JE, et al. Chronic binge ethanol consumption accelerates progression of Simian Immunodeficiency Virus Disease. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2006;30(10):1781–1790.