Researchers in the Rio Grande Valley have published a study detailing an increased burden of type 2 diabetes in persons with HIV in the region, the Valley AIDS Council announced Wednesday.
The report was published on July 5 in the journal Frontiers in Medicine, and is dubbed: “Association of HIV-1 Infection and Antiretroviral Therapy with Type 2 Diabetes in the Hispanic Population of the Rio Grande Valley, Texas, USA.”
Authors of the study include researchers from VAC, South Texas Diabetes and Obesity Institute (STDOI) and the Department of Human Genetics at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine.
While the burden of metabolic diseases in the Valley is well-documented, VAC wrote in its release that the prevalence of metabolic diseases in specific groups — such as persons with HIV — have not been well-studied.
Through the study, researchers reported that persons with HIV in the Valley have approximately twice the type 2 diabetes prevalence when compared to uninfected people in South Texas.
Furthermore, researchers also found that this increased prevalence is not entirely linked to increased obesity, but rather may be associated with poor metabolic health, the release stated, adding that it may be related to less responsiveness to insulin action, coupled with impairment of insulin secretion.
VAC wrote in the release that the findings of the study support future investigation into insulin action, in addition to secretion, to pave the way for development of superior drug regimens.
“These groundbreaking findings will help the physicians as well as the researchers to plan and conduct future prevention programs for better understanding of the mechanisms responsible for increased burden of diabetes in persons with HIV,” said Dr. Ruben Martinez, a lead physician on the study.
The collaborative effort was led by Martinez and Chief Medical Officer Dora A. Martinez — both physicians at VAC — and Juan-Carlos Lopez-Alvarenga, Ravindranath Duggirala and Srinivas Mummidi.
VAC is the primary provider of HIV prevention, education and testing services with clinics in Harlingen and McAllen. VAC is also the only Ryan White-funded agency providing medical care and supportive services for people living with HIV in a three-county area that stretches from the lower Valley to the U.S.-Mexico border.
Read the full study below:
