Current Pharmaceutical Design - Volume 16, Issue 30, 2010

The introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy the mid-1990s, based on treating HIV-1 infected patients with a combination of distinct antiretroviral drugs, resulted in dramatic amelioration of patient mortality and morbidity. Soon afterwards, however, prominent systemic metabolic alterations were observed in a significant subset of HIV-1-infected, antiretroviral-treated patients, often in combination with prominent a Read More

Nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) are components of most current antiretroviral (ARV) regimens. Side effects arising from mitochondrial toxicity (MtT) induced by these drugs is a common reason why patients treated with NRTI change or discontinue therapy. These toxicities can be difficult to reverse, and on occasion can be life-threatening. The exact pathogenesis underlying NRTI-induced mitochon Read More

Adipose tissue redistribution occurred at first in HIV-infected patients about 15 years ago after initiation of combination antiretroviral treatment (ART) and the responsibility of drugs was rapidly considered. This lipodystrophic syndrome can associate lipoatrophy, affecting subcutaneous adipose tissue in priority with fat hypertrophy, in particular in the upper part of the body, and metabolic alterations, dyslipidemia and alt Read More

Antiretroviral therapy (ART) has significantly reduced the morbidity and mortality of patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1). In a significant number of patients, ART is associated with fat redistribution and metabolic alterations such as dyslipidemia, insulin resistance (IR) and type 2 diabetes, summarized under the term HIV-associated lipodystrophy syndrome (HIVLS). The pathogenesis of HI Read More

The development of efficacious antiretroviral drugs that minimize adverse effects is a current challenge in HIV-1 therapy. Metabolic alterations reminiscent of the metabolic syndrome and overt lipodystrophy appear often in HIV-1-infected patients undergoing antiretroviral treatment. The etiopathogenesis of these alterations is complex, but lipotoxicity has recently emerged as a key concept for explaining the metabolic syn Read More

The availability of highly active antiretroviral therapy has markedly improved the survival rate and quality of life in patients infected with HIV. At present, however, there is still no cure for HIV and those undergoing treatment have to do so for life. The use of antiretroviral drugs has been associated with several toxicities that limit their success. Some acute and chronic toxicities associated with these drugs include hyperse Read More

Here we review a unique aspect of CNS research on biologically active peptides that started against a background of prevalent dogmas but ended by exerting considerable influence on the field. During the course of refuting some doctrines, we introduced several concepts that were unconventional and paradigm-shifting at the time. We showed that (1) hypothalamic peptides can act ‘up’ on the brain as well as ‘down’ Read More

Objective: We present the available data on the effects of combined therapy of fenofibrate with drugs affecting lipid metabolism other than statins. Methods: We consider studies evaluating the effects of combined therapy of fenofibrate with bile acid sequestrants (BAS), ezetimibe, niacin, n-3 fatty acids, plant sterols, orlistat, rimonabant, metformin and glitazones. Results: Combination of BAS (especially colesevelam) with feno Read More

In addition to bone homeostasis, vitamin D is involved in the physiological functions of several tissues and its insufficiency may contribute to various disorders. Vitamin D status seems to be associated with each of the components of metabolic syndrome (MetS), as well as MetS overall. We review these associations as well as the effects of vitamin D supplementation on MetS.