Assessment of coronary inflammation in antiretroviral treated people with HIV infection and active HIV/hepatitis C virus co-infection.

OBJECTIVE: People with HIV (PWH) and co-infected with hepatitis C virus (PWH + HCV) have increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Peri-coronary inflammation, measured by fat attenuation index (FAI) on coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA), independently predicts cardiovascular risk in the general population but has not been studied in the PWH + HCV population. We tested whether peri-coronary inflammation is increased in PWH or PWH + HCV, and whether inflammation changes over time. DESIGN: Cross-sectional analysis to determine FAI differences among groups. Longitudinal analysis in PWH to assess changes in inflammation over time. METHODS: Age-matched and sex-matched seropositive groups (PWH and PWH + HCV) virologically suppressed on antiretroviral therapy, HCV viremic, and without prior CVD and matched controls underwent CCTA. Peri-coronary FAI was measured around the proximal right coronary artery (RCA) and left anterior descending artery (LAD). Follow-up CCTA was performed in 22 PWH after 20.6-27.4 months. RESULTS: A total of 101 participants (48 women) were studied (60 PWH, 19 PWH + HCV and 22 controls). In adjusted analyses, peri-coronary FAI did not differ between seropositive groups and controls. Low attenuation coronary plaque was significantly less common in seropositive groups compared with controls (LAD, P = 0.035; and RCA, P = 0.017, respectively). Peri-coronary FAI values significantly progressed between baseline and follow-up in PWH (RCA: P = 0.001, LAD: P = <0.001). CONCLUSION: PWH and PWH + HCV without history of CVD do not have significantly worse peri-coronary inflammation, assessed by FAI, compared with matched controls. However, peri-coronary inflammation in mono-infected PWH significantly increased over approximately 22 months. FAI measures may be an important imaging biomarker for tracking asymptomatic CVD progression in PWH.

Changes in pain catastrophizing predict later changes in fibromyalgia clinical and experimental pain report: cross-lagged panel analyses of dispositional and situational catastrophizing.

INTRODUCTION: Fibromyalgia (FM), characterized by wide-spread diffuse pain and sensory abnormalities, is associated with elevated indices of distress and pain-related catastrophizing compared to both pain-free samples and those with chronic pain conditions. Catastrophizing is a pervasive negative mental set, and is a strong predictor of negative pain-related outcomes such as clinical pain intensity, and physical disability. Situational catastrophizing, measured in the context of experimentally-induced pain, is strongly related to enhanced pain sensitivity, a core aspect of the pathophysiology of fibromyalgia. However, little is known regarding the temporal course of the association between catastrophizing and pain-related "outcomes". Most studies involve only static assessments of pain and catastrophizing at a single time point, which provides little insight into the direction of the observed associations. We sought to investigate the temporal relationships between catastrophizing and indices of both clinical pain (substudy 1) and experimentally-induced pain (substudy 2) in a larger randomized controlled longitudinal trial. METHODS: Fifty-seven patients with FM completed catastrophizing, depression, and pain questionnaires as well as laboratory cold pressor pain testing at baseline, post-intervention and three month follow-up during a lifestyle physical activity study. Cross-lagged panel analyses were used to address these temporal relationships. RESULTS: In substudy 1, analyses revealed that pre-to-post changes in dispositional catastrophizing ratings prospectively accounted for unique variance in subsequent post-to-follow-up changes in clinical pain ratings (p = 0.005), while pre-to-post changes in pain ratings did not account for unique variance in post-to-follow-up changes in catastrophizing ratings. An identical pattern was observed experimentally in substudy 2, with pre-to-post changes in situational catastrophizing ratings prospectively accounting for unique variance in subsequent post-to-follow-up changes in experimental pain ratings (p = 0.014), while pre-to-post changes in pain ratings did not account for unique variance in post-to-follow-up changes in catastrophizing ratings. Specifically, initial alterations in catastrophizing were associated with subsequent alterations in clinical and experimentally induced pain. Controlling for levels of depression did not affect the results. CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide empirical evidence that catastrophizing processes might precede and contribute to subsequent alterations in the pain experience for FM patients. TRIAL REGISTRATION: clinicaltrials.gov: NCT00383084.

Effects of lifestyle physical activity in adults with fibromyalgia: results at follow-up.

BACKGROUND: In a 12-week randomized controlled trial of the effects of lifestyle physical activity (LPA) on symptoms and function among adults with fibromyalgia, we found that LPA participants increased their average daily step count by 54%, improved their self-reported functioning by 18%, and reduced their pain by 35%. OBJECTIVES: The objective of the study was to evaluate the intermediate (6 months) and long-term (12 months) effects of the LPA intervention on outcomes. METHODS: Participants completed follow-up assessments of physical activity, pain, fibromyalgia-related function, fatigue, depression, number of tender points, 6-minute walk test, and perceived improvement at 6 and 12 months after intervention. RESULTS: Of the 73 participants who completed the 12-week trial, 53 (73%) completed both the 6- and 12-month follow-up. Although the LPA participants reported greater perceived improvement at each follow-up, they did not differ from controls on pain, physical activity, tenderness, fatigue, depression, or the 6-minute walk test. Self-reported functioning declined markedly at follow-up for the LPA participants. CONCLUSIONS: Although participants reported greater perceived improvement at each assessment, the beneficial effects of LPA on physical activity, function, and pain found after the 12-week intervention were not sustained over time. This recidivism is seen in studies of activity and exercise in nearly any condition, and innovative methods that may prevent this are a focus of future studies.

Effects of lifestyle physical activity on perceived symptoms and physical function in adults with fibromyalgia: results of a randomized trial.

INTRODUCTION: Although exercise is therapeutic for adults with fibromyalgia (FM), its symptoms often create obstacles that discourage exercise. We evaluated the effects of accumulating at least 30 minutes of self-selected lifestyle physical activity (LPA) on perceived physical function, pain, fatigue, body mass index, depression, tenderness, and the six-minute walk test in adults with FM. METHODS: Eighty-four minimally active adults with FM were randomized to either LPA or a FM education control (FME) group. LPA participants worked toward accumulating 30 minutes of self-selected moderate-intensity LPA, five to seven days per week, while the FME participants received information and support. RESULTS: Seventy-three of the 84 participants (87%) completed the 12-week trial. The LPA group increased their average daily steps by 54%. Compared to FME, the LPA group reported significantly less perceived functional deficits (P = .032) and less pain (P = .006). There were no differences between the groups on the six-minute walk test (P = .067), fatigue, depression, body mass index, or tenderness. CONCLUSIONS: Accumulating 30 minutes of LPA throughout the day produces clinically relevant changes in perceived physical function and pain in previously minimally active adults with FM. TRIAL REGISTRATION: clinicaltrials.gov NCT00383084.