Work

HIV and aging

Year: 2014

Type: article

Abstract: PURPOSE OF REVIEW: It is now widely accepted that HIV-infected individuals remain at a higher risk for mortality and age-related morbidities than the general population, but several unresolved issues need to be addressed by the research community in the coming years to further improve the health of HIV-infected individuals in the modern treatment era. RECENT FINDINGS: Although recent studies have helped to better define the contribution of HIV to life expectancy and morbidity in the modern antiretroviral therapy (ART) era, questions remain about the generalizability of these findings to a future HIV-infected population that is expected to be much older. Furthermore, although a consensus has emerged that the persistent inflammatory state contributes to morbidity and mortality in this setting, the relative contributions of this process, health-related behaviours, comorbidities and medication toxicities remain incompletely understood. Lastly, significant uncertainty remains over the root causes of the persistent inflammatory state, the specific immunologic pathways to target with interventions and the most appropriate biomarkers to use for surrogate outcomes in pilot trials of immune-based interventions. SUMMARY: Each of these issues will be addressed in this review, highlighting recently published and presented studies that inform the discussion, and recommendations will be made for prioritizing the future research agenda.

Source: Current Opinion in HIV and AIDS

DOI: 10.1097/coh.0000000000000072

Author: Peter W. Hunt

Institutions: San Francisco General Hospital, University of California, San Francisco

Language: English