Objectives While renal impairment is reported more frequently in people living with HIV (PLWH) than in the general population, the PLWH samples in previous studies have generally been dominated by those at high renal risk. Methods Caucasian PLWH who were virologically suppressed on antiretroviral treatment and did not have injecting drug use or hepatitis C were recruited from the Copenhagen Comorbidity in HIV Infection (COCOMO) study. Sex‐ and age‐matched controls were recruited 1:4 from the Copenhagen General Population Study up to November 2016. We defined renal impairment as one measurement of estimated glomerular filtration rate ≤ 60 mL/min/1.73 m2, and assessed associated factors using adjusted logistic regression models. The impact of HIV‐related factors was explored in a subanalysis. Results Among 598 PLWH and 2598 controls, the prevalence of renal impairment was 3.7% [95% confidence interval (CI) 2.3–5.5%] and 1.7% (95% CI 1.2–2.2%; P = 0.0014), respectively. After adjustment, HIV status was independently associated with renal impairment [odds ratio (OR) 3.4; 95% CI 1.8–6.3]. In addition, older age [OR 5.4 (95% CI 3.9–7.5) per 10 years], female sex [OR 5.0 (95% CI 2.6–9.8)] and diabetes [OR 2.9 (95% CI 1.3–6.7)] were strongly associated with renal impairment. The association between HIV status and renal impairment became stronger with older age (P = 0.02 for interaction). Current and nadir CD4 counts, duration of HIV infection and previous AIDS‐defining diagnosis were not associated with renal impairment among virologically suppressed PLWH. Conclusions The prevalence of renal impairment is low among low‐risk virologically suppressed Caucasian PLWH, but remains significantly higher than in controls. Renal impairment therefore remains a concern in all PLWH and requires ongoing attention.

Background Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which facilitates neuroplasticity and synaptogenesis, may be decreased in bipolar disorder, but has not been systematically investigated in people with newly diagnosed bipolar disorder and unaffected first-degree relatives. Aims To compare BDNF levels in patients with newly diagnosed bipolar disorder, their unaffected first-degree relatives and healthy controls. Method The study investigated plasma BDNF levels in patients (n = 371) with newly diagnosed bipolar disorder, their unaffected first-degree relatives (n = 98) and healthy controls (n = 200) using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. We further investigated associations between BDNF levels and illness-related variables and medication status. Results BDNF levels were found to be 22.0% (95% CI 1.107–1.343) higher in patients with bipolar disorder compared with healthy controls (P < 0.001) and 15.6% higher in unaffected first-degree relatives compared with healthy controls (95% CI 1.007–1.327, P = 0.04), when adjusting for age and gender. Further, BDNF levels were positively associated with duration of illness at a trend level (P = 0.05), age (P = 0.001) and use of anti-epileptic medication (P = 0.05). Conclusions These findings suggest that BDNF levels are not decreased in the early stages of bipolar disorder and in unaffected first-degree relatives contrasting with prior findings during later stages of the illness.

Together with previous findings, the present observation suggests that increased dorsal prefrontal attention control is a common mechanism of EPO-associated improvements across several cognitive domains.

Background. Changes in inflammatory and metabolic markers are implicated in the pathogenesis in both the development and progression of bipolar disorder (BD). Notwithstanding, these markers have not been investigated in newly diagnosed BD. Methods. We compared high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and homocysteine (Hcy) levels in 372 patients with newly diagnosed BD, 106 unaffected first-degree relatives (URs), and 201 healthy control persons (HCs). Within the patient group, we also investigated possible associations between hs-CRP and Hcy, respectively, with illness-related characteristics and psychotropic medication. Results. No statistically significant differences in Hcy and hs-CRP levels were found when comparing BD and URs with HCs. Similarly, there were no differences when comparing only patients in remission or patients with affective symptoms, respectively, with HCs. Hcy levels were found to be 11.9% (95% CI: 1.030-1.219) higher in patients with BD when compared with their URs (p = 0.008), when adjusting for folate and cobalamin status, age, sex, and self-reported activity levels. Hcy levels were significantly associated with folate, cobalamin, gender, and age in all models (p < 0.05). Conclusion. Our results do not support hs-CRP or Hcy as markers in newly diagnosed BD.