2021
Association of Syndemic Unhealthy Alcohol Use, Smoking, and Depressive Symptoms on Incident Cardiovascular Disease among Veterans With and Without HIV-Infection
Chichetto NE, Kundu S, Freiberg MS, Koethe JR, Butt AA, Crystal S, So-Armah KA, Cook RL, Braithwaite RS, Justice AC, Fiellin DA, Khan M, Bryant KJ, Gaither JR, Barve SS, Crothers K, Bedimo RJ, Warner A, Tindle HA. Association of Syndemic Unhealthy Alcohol Use, Smoking, and Depressive Symptoms on Incident Cardiovascular Disease among Veterans With and Without HIV-Infection. AIDS And Behavior 2021, 25: 2852-2862. PMID: 34101074, PMCID: PMC8376776, DOI: 10.1007/s10461-021-03327-4.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsIncident cardiovascular diseaseUnhealthy alcohol useCardiovascular diseaseDepressive symptomsCVD riskHIV statusAlcohol useMultivariable Cox proportional hazards regressionCases of CVDCox proportional hazards regressionCVD-free participantsHIV-negative veteransProportional hazards regressionHIV-negativeHIV infectionHazards regressionSyndemic conditionsExcess riskRisk factorsDiagnostic codesHigh prevalenceObservational studyBaseline numberGreater riskSmoking
2020
Safety of Gabapentin Prescribed for Any Indication in a Large Clinical Cohort of 571,718 US Veterans with and without Alcohol Use Disorder
Rentsch CT, Morford KL, Fiellin DA, Bryant KJ, Justice AC, Tate JP. Safety of Gabapentin Prescribed for Any Indication in a Large Clinical Cohort of 571,718 US Veterans with and without Alcohol Use Disorder. Alcohol Clinical And Experimental Research 2020, 44: 1807-1815. PMID: 32628784, PMCID: PMC7540277, DOI: 10.1111/acer.14408.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsAlcohol use disorderMental statusRelative riskGabapentin exposureUse disordersICD-9 diagnostic codesAdverse neurologic effectsPotential medication interactionsAltered mental statusIncidence of fallsClear dose-response relationshipLarge clinical cohortDose-response relationshipRace/ethnicityUnexposed patientsHepatitis CAdverse eventsMedication interactionsExcess riskNeurologic effectsUS veteransDiagnostic codesIncidence rateClinical cohortHigh risk
2016
Do Biomarkers of Inflammation, Monocyte Activation, and Altered Coagulation Explain Excess Mortality Between HIV Infected and Uninfected People?
So-Armah KA, Tate JP, Chang CH, Butt AA, Gerschenson M, Gibert CL, Leaf D, Rimland D, Rodriguez-Barradas MC, Budoff MJ, Samet JH, Kuller LH, Deeks SG, Crothers K, Tracy RP, Crane HM, Sajadi MM, Tindle HA, Justice AC, Freiberg MS. Do Biomarkers of Inflammation, Monocyte Activation, and Altered Coagulation Explain Excess Mortality Between HIV Infected and Uninfected People? JAIDS Journal Of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes 2016, 72: 206-213. PMID: 27824677, PMCID: PMC4867134, DOI: 10.1097/qai.0000000000000954.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsBiomarkers of inflammationD-dimerIL-6Uninfected peopleMortality riskHIV infectionMonocyte activationVeterans Aging Cohort Study Biomarker CohortCox proportional hazards regressionElevated IL-6Excess mortality riskProportional hazards regressionUnsuppressed viremiaComorbid diseasesBiomarker cohortHighest quartileHIV statusHazards regressionExcess riskBlood drawExcess mortalityImmunologic processesSCD14Mortality rateLogistic regressionD-Dimer Levels before HIV Seroconversion Remain Elevated Even after Viral Suppression and Are Associated with an Increased Risk of Non-AIDS Events
Freiberg MS, Bebu I, Tracy R, So-Armah K, Okulicz J, Ganesan A, Armstrong A, O’Bryan T, Rimland D, Justice AC, Agan BK, . D-Dimer Levels before HIV Seroconversion Remain Elevated Even after Viral Suppression and Are Associated with an Increased Risk of Non-AIDS Events. PLOS ONE 2016, 11: e0152588. PMID: 27088215, PMCID: PMC4835105, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0152588.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsNon-AIDS diseasesNon-AIDS eventsD-dimer levelsHIV viral suppressionART initiationAntiretroviral therapyViral suppressionD-dimerInterleukin-6Time pointsUS Military HIV Natural History StudyMulticenter observational cohortMedian CD4 countIL-6 levelsMean percent increaseActive duty military personnelNatural history studiesDuty military personnelCD4 countHIV seroconversionHIV levelsMedian durationObservational cohortMedian timeExcess risk