Common antiretroviral combinations are associated with somatic depressive symptoms in women with HIV
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: OBJECTIVE: While modern antiretroviral therapy (ART) is highly effective and safe, depressive symptoms have been associated with certain ART drugs. We examined the association between common ART regimens and depressive symptoms in women with HIV (WWH) with a focus on somatic vs. nonsomatic symptoms. DESIGN: Analysis of longitudinal data from the Women's Interagency HIV Study. METHODS: Participants were classified into three groups based on the frequency of positive depression screening (CES-D ≥16): chronic depression (≥50% of visits since study enrollment), infrequent depression (<50% of visits), and never depressed (no visits). Novel Bayesian machine learning methods building upon a subset-tree kernel approach were developed to estimate the combined effects of ART regimens on depressive symptoms in each group after covariate adjustment. RESULTS: The analysis included 1538 WWH who participated in 12 924 (mean = 8.4) visits. The mean age was 49.9 years, 72% were Black, and 14% Hispanic. In the chronic depression group, combinations including tenofovir alafenamide and cobicistat-boosted elvitegravir and/or darunavir were associated with greater somatic symptoms of depression, whereas those combinations containing tenofovir disoproxil fumarate and efavirenz or rilpivirine were associated with less somatic depressive symptoms. ART was not associated with somatic symptoms in the infrequent depression or never depressed groups. ART regimens were not associated with nonsomatic symptoms in any group. CONCLUSIONS: Specific ART combinations are associated with somatic depressive symptoms in WWH with chronic depression. Future studies should consider specific depressive symptoms domains as well as complete drug combinations when assessing the relationship between ART and depression.
Source: UNC Libraries
DOI: 10.17615/br5c-cy17
Authors: O’Halloran, Jane, Konkle-Parker, Deborah, Wang, Yuezhe, Maki, Pauline M., Spence, Amanda B., Rubin, Leah H., Adimora, Adaora A., Sharma, Anjali, Weber, Kathleen M., Xu, Yanxun, Milam, Joel, Dastgheyb, Raha M., Parra-Rodriguez, Luis, Ofotokun, Igho, Gustafson, Deborah R., Fischl, Margaret A., Jin, Wei
Institution: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Language: English
Subfield: Infectious Diseases
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funders: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institute on Aging, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institute of Nursing Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
OpenAlex ID: W7155557402