EFFECTS OF MICRONUTRIENT INTAKE ON SURVIVAL IN HUMAN-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-VIRUS TYPE-1 INFECTION

The authors examined the relation between dietary and supplemental mic ronutrient intake and subsequent mortality among 281 human immunodefic iency type 1 (HIV-1)-infected participants at the Baltimore, Maryland/ Washington, DC, site of the;Multicenter;Acquired immunodeficiency Synd rome Cohort Study. Subjects completed a semiquantitative food frequenc y questionnaire at their baseline visit in 1984. Levels of daily micro nutrient intake were examined in relation to subsequent mortality over the 8-year follow-up period by using multivariate Cox models, adjusti ng for age, symptoms, CD4+ count, energy intake, and treatment. The hi ghest quartile of intake for each B-group vitamin was independently as sociated with improved survival: B-1 (relative hazard (RH) = 0.60, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.38-0.95), B-2 (RH = 0.59, 95% CI 0.38-0.93 ), B-6 (RH = 0.45, 95% CI 0.28-0.73), and niacin (RH = 0.57, 95% CI 0. 36-0.91). In a final model, the third quartile of beta-carotene intake (RH = 0.60, 95% CI 0.37-0.98) was associated with improved survival, while increasing intakes of zinc were associated with poorer survival. intakes of B-6 supplements at more than twice the recommended dietary allowance were associated with improved survival (RH = 0.60, 95% CI 0 .39-0.93), while intakes of B-1 and B-2 supplements at levels greater than five times the recommended dietary allowance were associated with improved survival (B-1:RH = 0.61, 95% CI 0.38-0.98; B-2:RH = 0.60, 95 % CI 0.37-0.97), Any intake of zinc supplements, however, was associat ed with poorer survival (RH = 1.49, 95% CI 1.02-2.18). These data supp ort the performance of clinical trials to assess the effects of B-grou p vitamin supplements on HIV-1-related survival, Further studies are n eeded to determine the optimal level of zinc intake in HIV-1-infected individuals.