The 'COmorBidity in Relation to AIDS' (COBRA) cohort: Design, methods and participant characteristics
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Persons living with HIV on combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) may be at increased risk of the development of age-associated non-communicable comorbidities (AANCC) at relatively young age. It has therefore been hypothesised that such individuals, despite effective cART, may be prone to accelerated aging. OBJECTIVE: The COmorBidity in Relation to AIDS (COBRA) cohort study was designed to investigate the potential causal link between HIV and AANCC, amongst others, in a cohort of middle-aged individuals with HIV with sustained viral suppression on cART and otherwise comparable HIV-negative controls. METHODS: Longitudinal cohort study of HIV-positive subjects ≥45 years of age, with sustained HIV suppression on cART recruited from two large European HIV treatment centres and similarly-aged HIV-negative controls recruited from sexual health centres and targeted community groups. Both HIV-positive and HIV-negative subjects were assessed at study entry and again at follow-up after 2 years. RESULTS: Of the 134 HIV-positive individuals with a median (IQR) age of 56 (51, 62) years recruited, 93% were male, 88% of white ethnicity and 86% were men who have sex with men (MSM). Similarly, the 79 HIV-negative subjects had a median (IQR) age of 57 (52, 64) and 92% were male, 97% of white ethnicity and 80% were MSM. CONCLUSIONS: The results from the COBRA study will be a significant resource to understand the link between HIV and AANCC and the pathogenic mechanisms underlying this link. COBRA will inform future development of novel prognostic tools for earlier diagnosis of AANCC and of novel interventions which, as an adjunct to cART, may prevent AANCC.
Date Issued
2018-03-29
Date Acceptance
2018-01-11
Citation
PLoS ONE, 2018, 13 (3)
ISSN
1932-6203
Publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Journal / Book Title
PLoS ONE
Volume
13
Issue
3
Copyright Statement
© 2018 Francesco et al. This is an open access
article distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original author and source are credited.
article distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original author and source are credited.
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29596425
PII: PONE-D-17-30164
Subjects
MD Multidisciplinary
General Science & Technology
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
United States
Article Number
e0191791