International AIDS Society-USA Issues Recommendations Regarding Metabolic Complications From HIV Infection, Antiretroviral Therapy

The International AIDS Society-USA has published in the Nov. 4 issue of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes its first comprehensive guidelines for metabolic complications that are associated with HIV infection and antiretroviral therapy, according to a University of California-San Francisco release. The recommendations for assessing, monitoring and treating metabolic problems cover five areas of concern: insulin resistance with alterations in glucose metabolism, abnormalities in lipid metabolism, lactic acid disorders, bone disease and abnormal fat distribution. According to Dr. Morris Schambelan, the IAS-USA panel chair and director of the General Clinical Research Center at San Francisco General Hospital Medical Center, "These recommendations are important for clinicians because significant metabolic complications are affecting as many as half of all HIV-infected patients on antiretroviral regimens. Concerns about complications are causing some patients to delay initiating therapy and others to reconsider their use of these life-saving medications." Schambelan added that the guidelines are "a work in progress" and may change as new data become available (University of California-San Francisco release, 11/4).