Important note: Information in this article was accurate in July 2000. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.AIDSWEEKLY Plus; Monday, July 3, 2000
Prepared by AIDS Weekly editors from staff and other reports
NewsRx -- Serum albumin can be used a predictor of survival in HIV infected women.
"The level of serum albumin is associated with mortality in a wide variety of chronic diseases," said J.G. Feldman and colleagues, State University of New York. "However, few studies have examined the relationship between serum albumin and survival in HIV-1 infection."
The researchers sought to determine whether survival was associated with the serum albumin level in HIV-1 infected women. The study consisted of a prospective cohort of 2,056 HIV infected women at various stages of disease. The patients were interviewed and examined at the beginning of the study and thereafter at six month intervals. The women came from a North American multi-institutional cohort incorporating five geographical areas ("Serum albumin as a predictor of survival in HIV infected women in the Women's Interagency HIV Study," AIDS 2000 May 5;14(7):863-70.
The researchers observed mortality during the first three years of the follow-up period. They found that the relative risk of death could be estimated according to serum albumin level. This was calculated using a proportional hazards ratio model adjusted for CD4 cell count, HIV-1-RNA level, and other relevant covariates, they explained.
"Three-year mortality for women in the lowest serum albumin category (<35/l) was 48% compared with 11% in the highest category (greater than or equal to 42 g/l; P<0.001)," Feldman et al. wrote. "The adjusted relative hazard (RH) of death was 3.1 times greater for those in the lowest albumin category (P<0.01)."
They found that the excess risk associated with lower serum albumin levels remained when they excluded subjects with moderate to severe immunosuppression and abnormal kidney and liver function (P<0.01).
"The baseline serum albumin level is an independent predictor of mortality in HIV-1 infected women," Feldman et al. concluded. "The serum albumin level may be a useful additional marker of HIV-1 disease progression, particularly among asymptomatic women with little or no evidence of immunosuppression."
The contact person for this report is J.G. Feldman, State University of New York Health Sciences Center, Department of Preventive Medicine, Box 43, 450 Clarkson Ave, Brooklyn, New York 11203, USA.
Key points reported in this study are:
This article was prepared by AIDS Weekly editors from staff and other reports.
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