HARC 009 - Collaborative Study on Androgen Levels in
HIV-1-Infected Women. This
study, conducted in collaboration with Dr. Shalender Bhasin of Charles R. Drew
University, and recently published in the Journal
of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, tested the hypothesis that
testosterone levels are lower in HIV-1-infected women than in uninfected women.
Levels of total and free testosterone have been measured in banked sera from 10
HIV-1-infected women. It was
postulated that low testosterone levels contribute to the multifactorial
etiology of weight loss in HIV-1 infection. Preliminary discussions have also
been held regarding a collaborative RCMI project investigating the efficacy of
combined testosterone and resistance-exercise training for the prevention and
treatment of HIV-1-associated wasting.