Alcohol's Impact on Inflammatory Markers in HIV Disease - Russia ARCH Cohort

Heavy alcohol consumption in an HIV-infected person may accelerate HIV disease progression and end organ disease with one leading explanatory pathway being via enhanced microbial translocation and inflammation/altered coagulation. Heavy alcohol consumption and HIV infection are both causes of microbial translocation, the process by which bacterial products leak across the gastrointestinal membrane with resultant destructive immune activation. Among HIV-infected people, high levels of microbial translocation (as measured by soluble CD14) and inflammation/altered coagulation (as measured by IL-6 and D-dimer) are each associated with an increased risk of death. Of importance, among HIV-infected persons, heavy drinking is also significantly associated with higher levels of D-dimer in cross-sectional studies. Of note, initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART) is associated with a reduction in D-dimer levels. Yet the following is not known: is there a longitudinal relationship between alcohol consumption and these biomarkers independent of ART?

Thus, as part of the Uganda, Russia, Boston Alcohol Network for Alcohol Research Collaboration on HIV/AIDS (URBAN ARCH)Consortium, the investigators seek to create the Russia ARCH cohort (n=375) from participants of a recently completed NIAAA-funded randomized controlled trial (RCT) of HIV infected Russian heavy drinkers.

The investigators will be collecting blood from participants at baseline, and at 12- and 24-months post enrollment. In addition to collecting and storing blood samples the investigators will be administering surveys to participants at all 3 timepoints. The investigators will conduct phone interviews with participants at 6- and 18-months post enrollment. The investigators will conduct laboratory tests on the stored samples, including measures of microbial translocation (sCD14) and inflammation/altered coagulation (IL-6/D-dimer) and PEth.

This study will clarify the association between alcohol and key biomarkers over time in HIV-infected heavy drinkers. In addition, the investigators will be collecting and storing blood samples from participants in the study to use for the analyses specified and for future studies looking at HIV-infected heavy drinkers.