Current HIV Research - Volume 12, Issue 5, 2014

Introduction: There are more than 500 000 HIV-infected people on antiretroviral treatment (ART) in Zimbabwe with very limited laboratory monitoring. To ensure effective treatment and prevent transmission of drug resistance, affordable treatment monitoring is needed to guide individual treatment. Methods: 125 whole blood samples from patients on first-line ART were investigated for drug resistance mutations Read More

Peripheral blood monocytes of HIV-infected individuals carry virus, constituting one potential reservoir. However, most studies of infection in tissue culture find monocytes refractory to HIV replication, suggesting that culture conditions limit the relative susceptibility of this target cell. We employed a tissue culture system optimized for maintenance of human monocytes without differentiation and compared HIV infection e Read More

Out of the 15 discrete proteins encoding the total amount of genetic information in the chromosomes of human immunodeficiency virus type 1; three perform the vital enzymatic functions i.e. a reverse transcription, an integration, and proteolysis. The HIV integrase is the new validated drug target against AIDS amongst all essential enzymes due to the lack of the human homologue. In last few years quite, a few but potent inh Read More

Purpose: Switch to unboosted atazanavir (ATV) is an attractive option due to convenience and tolerability in HIV-positive patients. With limited available data we investigated the determinants of long-term efficacy and the consequences of virological failure of unboosted atazanavir-based regimens. Methods: Retrospective analysis in two Italian large outpatient clinics including demographic, immunovirological, resistance a Read More

The 2´3´-dialdehyde of ATP or oxidized ATP (oATP) is a compound known for specifically making covalent bonds with the nucleotide-binding site of several ATP-binding enzymes and receptors. We investigated the effects of oATP and other oxidized purines on HIV-1 infection and we found that this compound inhibits HIV-1 and SIV infection by blocking early steps of virus replication. oATP, oxidized ADP (oADP), and oxidized Aden Read More

Objectives: This study aims to evaluate the effect of co-trimoxazole (CTX) prophylaxis on mortality reduction among HIV-infected patients receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) in Henan Province, China. Design: We conducted a retrospective study. Methods: All individuals aged 15 years and older who initiated ART between 2008 and 2010 in Henan Province with completed CTX prophylaxis treatment information were included. The Read More

Background: Suboptimal adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) is a strong predictor of virologic failure (VF) among people with HIV. Various methods such as patient self-report, pill counts and pharmacy refills have been utilized to monitor adherence. However, there are limited data on the accuracy of combining methods to better predict VF in routine clinical settings. We examined various methods to assess adherence i Read More