Important note: Information in this article was accurate in November 2001. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.AIDSWEEKLY Plus; Monday, November 19 & 26, 2001
Michael Greer, Senior Medical Writer
NewsRx -- Treatment with the adrenal hormone DHEA can be beneficial for patients in advanced stages of HIV infection, researchers in France report.
"Plasma levels of dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEA-S) decrease with the progression of HIV disease," according to Christophe Piketty and colleagues at Hopital Europeen Georges Pompidou, Hopital Trousseau, and Hopital Paul Brousse in Paris, and Hopital Bicetre in Le Kremlin Bicetre. Low levels of DHEA have been linked to poor immune function and depression.
Piketty and coworkers found that DHEA replenishment therapy could significantly improve HIV patients' quality of life.
The researchers evaluated the effects of 50 milligrams of DHEA a day in 32 volunteers with advanced HIV disease. Plasma levels of DHEA-S, the circulating form of DHEA, rose significantly in treated patients but fell slightly in control patients, they said.
Patients treated with DHEA also displayed significant improvements in the mental health and health-related distress components of the Medical Outcomes Study HIV Health (MOS-HIV) Survey, improvements not seen in placebo-treated participants, study data showed. No adverse effects linked to DHEA therapy were observed.
The number of CD4 cells, immune cells targeted by HIV, was not affected by DHEA administration (Double-blind placebo-controlled trial of oral dehydroepiandrosterone in patients with advanced HIV disease, Clin Endocrinol (Oxf) 2001 Sep;55(3):325-30.
"The administration of DHEA in patients with advanced HIV infection results in improved mental function scores as assessed by the MOS-HIV quality of life scale," Piketty and coauthors concluded.
The corresponding author for this report is Christophe Piketty, Hopital Europeen Georges Pompidou, 75015 Paris, France. E-mail: christophe.piketty@egp.ap-hop-paris.fr.
A search at www.NewsRx.net using the term "AIDS and HIV therapy" yielded 872 articles in 20 specialized reports.
Key points reported in this study include:
This article was prepared by AIDS Weekly editors from staff and other reports.
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