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No neurocognitive advantage for immediate antiretroviral treatment in adults with greater than 500 CD4+ T-cell counts

Wright, EJ; Grund, B; Robertson, KR; Cysique, L; Brew, BJ; Collins, GL; Poehlman-Roediger, M; ... INSIGHT START Neurology Substudy Group; + view all (2018) No neurocognitive advantage for immediate antiretroviral treatment in adults with greater than 500 CD4+ T-cell counts. AIDS , 32 (8) pp. 985-997. 10.1097/QAD.0000000000001778. Green open access

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Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To compare the effect of immediate versus deferred antiretroviral treatment (ART) on neuropsychological test performance in treatment-naive HIV-positive adults with >500 CD4+ cells/μL. DESIGN: Randomized trial. METHODS: The START parent study randomized participants to commence immediate versus deferred ART until CD4+ <350 cells/μL. The START Neurology substudy used 8 neuropsychological tests, at baseline, months 4, 8, 12 and annually, to compare groups for changes in test performance. Test results were internally standardized to z-scores. The primary outcome was the average of the eight test z-scores (QNPZ-8). Mean changes in QNPZ-8 from baseline were compared by intent-to-treat using longitudinal mixed models. Changes from baseline to specific time points were compared using ANCOVA models. RESULTS: 592 participants had a median age of 34 years; median baseline CD4+ count of 629 cells/μL; the mean follow-up was 3.4 years. ART was used for 94% and 32% of accrued person-years in the immediate and deferred groups, respectively. There was no difference between the immediate and deferred ART groups in QNPZ-8 change through follow-up [-0.018 (95% CI: -0.062 to 0.027, p = 0.44)], or at any visit. However, QNPZ-8 scores increased in both arms during the first year, by 0.22 and 0.24, respectively (p < 0.001 for increase from baseline). CONCLUSIONS: We observed substantial improvement in neurocognitive test performance during the first year in both study arms, underlining the importance of using a control group in studies assessing neurocognitive performance over time. Immediate ART neither benefitted nor harmed neurocognitive performance in individuals with CD4+ cell counts above 500 cells/μL.

Type: Article
Title: No neurocognitive advantage for immediate antiretroviral treatment in adults with greater than 500 CD4+ T-cell counts
Location: England
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1097/QAD.0000000000001778
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1097/QAD.0000000000001778
Language: English
Additional information: This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
Keywords: HIV, Neurocognitive impairment, Antiretroviral Treatment, Central Nervous System
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute for Global Health
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute for Global Health > Infection and Population Health
URI: https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10043981
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