"Amongst patients experiencing a rebound in viral load, those taking 3TC (lamivudine, Epivir) in combination with tenofovir (Viread) were more likely than those taking FTC (emtricitabine, Emtriva) and tenofovir to develop a number of key resistance mutations."
Read more in Aidsmap, February 8, 2010.
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February 8, 2010
February 5, 2010
Rights of vulnerable people and the future of HIV/AIDS
"Despite these gains, prejudice, discrimination, and stigmatisation of people with HIV/AIDS, and key groups most affected by and at most risk of the disease, continue to hamper efforts to tackle the pandemic. The welcome news that the USA has at last lifted a 22 year travel restriction that prevented people with HIV/AIDS entering the country, and that South Korea has removed a similar ban, reminds us that almost 30 countries worldwide still block entry by and repatriate foreign nationals with HIV/AIDS. And in Uganda, the attempt to introduce the death penalty for people known to have engaged in homosexual acts and further criminalise individuals, including health workers, who support such people is a terrifying sign that addressing issues of vulnerability, discrimination, and human rights will be key to future gains in the battle against the pandemic.
"About a third of people living with HIV/AIDS in countries without generalised epidemics are men who have sex with men, sex workers, and injecting drug users, and in countries with generalised epidemics people in these key groups have a higher prevalence of HIV/AIDS than do the general population. The WHO Towards Universal Access report, released last year, identified these as target populations in the fight against HIV, since infections in these groups are likely to drive epidemics in the future. ...
"But funding bodies can help to improve the situation of key populations, not only by providing funds directly, but also by putting conditions on donations to ensure that countries act to remove discrimination and improve the health of people in vulnerable groups. Over the past 5 years, the Ukraine has managed to turn the tide in a rapidly escalating HIV/AIDS crisis by opening needle exchanges and offering counselling for drug users with donations from the Global Fund given on the condition that the country legalised methodone replacement therapy."
Read more in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, February 4, 2010 (free registration to The Lancet required).
"About a third of people living with HIV/AIDS in countries without generalised epidemics are men who have sex with men, sex workers, and injecting drug users, and in countries with generalised epidemics people in these key groups have a higher prevalence of HIV/AIDS than do the general population. The WHO Towards Universal Access report, released last year, identified these as target populations in the fight against HIV, since infections in these groups are likely to drive epidemics in the future. ...
"But funding bodies can help to improve the situation of key populations, not only by providing funds directly, but also by putting conditions on donations to ensure that countries act to remove discrimination and improve the health of people in vulnerable groups. Over the past 5 years, the Ukraine has managed to turn the tide in a rapidly escalating HIV/AIDS crisis by opening needle exchanges and offering counselling for drug users with donations from the Global Fund given on the condition that the country legalised methodone replacement therapy."
Read more in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, February 4, 2010 (free registration to The Lancet required).
February 3, 2010
Tesamorelin safe and effective for fat accumulation in patients taking HIV treatment
"Treatment with tesamorelin significantly improves visceral fat accumulation in patients with HIV, an international team of investigators report in the online edition of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.
"Preliminary results of the study were reported at the 2008 International Conference in Mexico City.
"The results of a 26-week study, followed by a further six-months of analysis showed that therapy with the drug reduced levels of visceral fat and waist circumference without having detrimental metabolic effects."
Read more in Aidsnews, February 3, 2010.
"Preliminary results of the study were reported at the 2008 International Conference in Mexico City.
"The results of a 26-week study, followed by a further six-months of analysis showed that therapy with the drug reduced levels of visceral fat and waist circumference without having detrimental metabolic effects."
Read more in Aidsnews, February 3, 2010.
FDA revises ddI product label to warn of serious liver side-effect
"Medicine regulatory authorities in the US have updated the product information for ddI (didanosine, Videx) to warn that treatment with the drug can cause a serious liver problem.
"A communication was circulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on January 29th stating that the label for ddI would be altered and caution that the drug can cause non-cirrhotic portal hypertension."
Read more in Aidsmap, February 1, 2010.
"A communication was circulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on January 29th stating that the label for ddI would be altered and caution that the drug can cause non-cirrhotic portal hypertension."
Read more in Aidsmap, February 1, 2010.
February 2, 2010
Compound found that targets wide range of viruses
"Now, researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, UCLA, Harvard University, the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases and Cornell University have teamed up to develop and test a broad-spectrum antiviral compound capable of stopping a wide range of highly dangerous viruses, including Ebola, HIV, hepatitis C virus, West Nile virus, Rift Valley fever virus and yellow fever virus, among others.
"UCLA researchers led by Dr. Benhur Lee — corresponding author on a paper on the work appearing this week on the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science Web site — identified the compound (which they call LJ001), after screening a "library" of about 30,000 molecules to find a one that blocked the host cell entry of deadly Nipah virus. Subsequent experiments revealed that LJ001 blocked other viruses that, like Nipah, were surrounded by fatty capsules known as lipid envelopes. It had no effect on nonenveloped viruses."
Read more in Eurekalert!, February 1, 2010.
"UCLA researchers led by Dr. Benhur Lee — corresponding author on a paper on the work appearing this week on the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science Web site — identified the compound (which they call LJ001), after screening a "library" of about 30,000 molecules to find a one that blocked the host cell entry of deadly Nipah virus. Subsequent experiments revealed that LJ001 blocked other viruses that, like Nipah, were surrounded by fatty capsules known as lipid envelopes. It had no effect on nonenveloped viruses."
Read more in Eurekalert!, February 1, 2010.
January 30, 2010
War on AIDS Hangs in Balance as U.S. Curbs Help for Africa
"KAMPALA, Uganda—Ninsiima Agatha, a 20-year-old mother of two, showed up at a medical clinic here last month, weak, coughing, and desperate to save herself and her two children. She had just discovered that her husband was infected with HIV—and now she had the virus too. If she didn't get access to life-saving drugs quickly, she could easily pass the disease to the baby she was breast-feeding.
"But the staff at the Joint Clinical Research Centre had to tell her the bad news. Even though her husband, a clothes merchant with a girlfriend on the side, was already receiving the so-called AIDS cocktail of drugs elsewhere, there would be none for her. The clinic had enrolled its full quota of patients under its contract with the U.S. government. Ms. Agatha, sprawled on a hospital bed with a toddler and an infant, could barely move. "I feel desperate," she said."
Read more in Wall Street Journal, January 30, 2010.
"But the staff at the Joint Clinical Research Centre had to tell her the bad news. Even though her husband, a clothes merchant with a girlfriend on the side, was already receiving the so-called AIDS cocktail of drugs elsewhere, there would be none for her. The clinic had enrolled its full quota of patients under its contract with the U.S. government. Ms. Agatha, sprawled on a hospital bed with a toddler and an infant, could barely move. "I feel desperate," she said."
Read more in Wall Street Journal, January 30, 2010.
Vaccine stops TB in African HIV trial
"An experimental vaccine helps prevent tuberculosis in people infected with HIV, researchers have found.
"The Mycobacterium vaccae, or MV vaccine, reduced the rate of tuberculosis by 39 per cent among 2,000 people infected with HIV in Tanzania, researchers said in Friday's online issue of the journal AIDS.
"Tuberculosis accounts for up to a third of AIDS deaths worldwide, and TB worsens HIV, according to the World Health Organization."
Read more in CBC News, January 29, 2010.
"The Mycobacterium vaccae, or MV vaccine, reduced the rate of tuberculosis by 39 per cent among 2,000 people infected with HIV in Tanzania, researchers said in Friday's online issue of the journal AIDS.
"Tuberculosis accounts for up to a third of AIDS deaths worldwide, and TB worsens HIV, according to the World Health Organization."
Read more in CBC News, January 29, 2010.
January 29, 2010
Neuron breakthrough offers hope on Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s
"Neurons have been created directly from skin cells for the first time, in a remarkable study that suggests that our biological makeup is far more versatile than previously thought.
"If confirmed, the discovery that one tissue type can be genetically reprogrammed to become another, could revolutionise treatments for conditions such as Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s, opening up the possibility of turning a patient’s own skin cells into the neurons that they need.
"The study by scientists from Stanford University, California, also suggests that skin cells could be reprogrammed to provide a limitless supply of blood or bone marrow for personalised transfusions."
Read more in Times Online (UK), January 28, 2010.
"If confirmed, the discovery that one tissue type can be genetically reprogrammed to become another, could revolutionise treatments for conditions such as Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s, opening up the possibility of turning a patient’s own skin cells into the neurons that they need.
"The study by scientists from Stanford University, California, also suggests that skin cells could be reprogrammed to provide a limitless supply of blood or bone marrow for personalised transfusions."
Read more in Times Online (UK), January 28, 2010.
January 28, 2010
Long-Lasting HIV Nucleoside Analogue in Development
"A research team from the University of Missouri at Columbia is developing a novel nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI) that remains active against HIV for days after a single dose, according to a report published online by ScienceDaily. Stefan Sarafianos, PhD, who heads to the MU team, said the compound is more potent and longer-lasting than current NRTIs and may find use not only as a component of antiretroviral (ARV) therapy but also as a preventive microbicide.
"'This new compound, EFdA, is 60,000 times more potent than any other drug that is currently being used to treat HIV,' said Sarafianos, assistant professor of microbiology and immunology in the MU School of Medicine and an investigator in the Christopher Bond Life Sciences Center. 'This compound has a different chemical makeup than other approved therapies and creates an exceptional amount of antiviral activity. EFdA is activated very quickly and stays long in the body to fight the virus and protect from infection.'"
Read more in POZ, January 28, 2010.
"'This new compound, EFdA, is 60,000 times more potent than any other drug that is currently being used to treat HIV,' said Sarafianos, assistant professor of microbiology and immunology in the MU School of Medicine and an investigator in the Christopher Bond Life Sciences Center. 'This compound has a different chemical makeup than other approved therapies and creates an exceptional amount of antiviral activity. EFdA is activated very quickly and stays long in the body to fight the virus and protect from infection.'"
Read more in POZ, January 28, 2010.
Premature Aging of the Brain Seen in HIV Patients
"It's not clear if the virus or the drugs that treat it -- or both -- are contributing to the aging. But one thing is clear: The blood flow in HIV patients is about the same as in those of uninfected people who are 15 to 20 years older. ...
"In the study, researchers used MRI scans to study the blood flow in the brains of 26 HIV-infected people and 25 other people who weren't infected. The average age and education level of the participants were similar.
"The researchers found reduced blood flow in the brains of younger HIV-infected patients who were infected recently, not just the older ones."
Read more in Healthfinder.gov, January, 2010.
"In the study, researchers used MRI scans to study the blood flow in the brains of 26 HIV-infected people and 25 other people who weren't infected. The average age and education level of the participants were similar.
"The researchers found reduced blood flow in the brains of younger HIV-infected patients who were infected recently, not just the older ones."
Read more in Healthfinder.gov, January, 2010.
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