Current HIV Research - Volume 8, Issue 3, 2010

Objective: The primary objective of this study was to investigate the impact of HCV infection and of HCV genotypes on immune restoration in HIV-infected patients on a successful HAART regimen. Methods: Patients from the MASTER Study were included in this current longitudinal study if they met the following criteria: being on any successful HAART, and availability of CD4+ cell count and HIV RNA level before starting the supp Read More

Objective: The primary objective of this study was to estimate etravirine activity in a cohort of patients infected with non-B subtype HIV-1 and failing nevirapine-based therapy. Materials and Methods: Genotypic resistance testing was performed if viral load was ® 1,000 copies/ml after receiving at least six months of therapy. Suboptimal response to etravirine was predicted by a score ® 2.5 on the Tibotec weighting schema, ® 4 in t Read More

Efficient expression of HIV-1 structural gene involves regulation by viral Rev and Rev-responsive elements (RRE). Messenger RNAs of wild-type HIV-1 structural genes are either retained in the nucleus or degraded rapidly in the absence of Rev/RRE; therefore little protein can be expressed. Modifying HIV-1 genes is an excellent approach to circumvent this problem, but it is a laborious and costly process. Using certain vectors Read More

Objectives: We tested the association between specific values and beliefs, cultural representations of HIV/AIDS and high-risk sexual and drug-use behaviours in the Former Soviet Republic of Georgia. Methods: We questioned 2880 adolescents aged 14-17 in Georgia using a three-stage stratified probability sample. Respondents were from nine regions sampled across the country. Participants completed an inventory mea Read More

Background: Non-acquired immune-deficiency syndrome (AIDS) defining malignancies (especially lung cancer) and bacterial infections as well as cardiovascular diseases now account for almost one third of deaths and morbid events in treated patients infected by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). Tobacco smoking is a major modifiable risk factor of these emergent conditions and almost half of these Read More

Background: Although FOLFOX4 is considered the standard chemotherapy regimen for colorectal cancer (CRC), few data are available on its results in human immunodeficiency (HIV)-related CRC. The results were analyzed to evaluate feasibility and activity of FOLFOX4 plus highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in metastatic CRC (mCRC) HIV-seropositive patients. Patients and Methods: From January 2002 to March 2 Read More

Pediatric HIV is scarce in developed countries; 90% of pediatric HIV patients are in developing countries. In contrast, children represent 15% of the new infections in poor countries. Approximately 90% of the HIV-positive children do not have access to antiretrovirals (ARVs). Without treatment, 50% of the patients die before the 2 years of age. Efavirenz (EFV, aqueous solubility ~4 μg/mL, 40-45% bioavailability), a non-nucleoside Read More

Background: Peripheral neuropathy is the dose-limiting toxicity of stavudine and didanosine (nucleoside analogs used in HIV treatment) and is attributed to mitochondrial toxicity from these drugs. Acetyl L-carnitine (ALC) and co-enzyme Q10 are proposed as neuropathy treatments, but evidence to support these is limited. Methods: We examined ALC and a water-soluble formulation of co-enzyme Q10 (HQO™) for the pre Read More

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and several simian immunodeficiency viruses (SIV) encode for a transmembrane protein known as Vpu (viral protein U). While one of the smallest of the HIV-1 proteins, it has two important functions within virus-infected cells. The first of these functions is the down-regulation of the CD4 receptor to prevent its interaction with the HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein. Vpu interacts with t Read More

Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) is a pandemic infectious disease especially frequent in HIV-infected patients. Toll-like receptor (TLR) 4 has been described to play a main role in the innate immunity against TB. In fact, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in TLRs may influence AIDS disease progression. The association between two particular SNPs in human TLR4 (Asp299Gly and Thr399Ile) and active TB has been studied in Read More

In Malaysia, co-circulation of CRF01_AE and subtype B has resulted in the emergence of the second generation derivative; CRF33_01B in approximately 20% of its HIV-1 infected individuals. Our objective was to identify possible biological advantages that CRF33_01B possesses over its progenitors. Biological and molecular comparisons of CRF33_01B against its parental subtypes clearly show that CRF33_01B replicated b Read More