Debunking the long-standing notion that protease inhibitors are a major culprit in the risk of developing diabetes, new data suggest that nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTI) use may be the cause. The latest study from the Women’s Interagency HIV Study (WIHS), published in the August 28 edition of AIDS and reported by AIDSmap, suggests that prolonged therapy involving Epivir (lamivudine) may result in a patient developing diabetes.
The study, which followed 2,088 women for five and a half years, determined that long-term use of NRTIs—specifically Epivir—by HIV-positive women was associated with the greatest risk of diabetes, compared to positive women not using NRTIs and HIV-negative women. Cumulative protease inhibitor and non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) use was not found to be a diabetes risk factor.
AIDSmap notes that studies looking for links between HIV treatment and diabetes have intensified, given that diabetes is a primary risk factor for cardiovascular disease. The WIHS researchers, knowing that NRTIs can damage cellular mitochondria, suggest that they could be contributing to the development of diabetes.
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