HIV Infection, Inflammation, and Premature Aging [video presentations]

CFAR Symposium 2010: HIV Infection, Inflammation, and Premature Aging:
Tuesday, May 18, 2010 (date of symposium)


The Intersection of HIV and Aging

Development and Reversion of Immunosenescence in HIV-1 Infection
Victor Appay, PhD

The Role of HIV-Associated Inflammation in Aging
Russell P. Tracy, PhD

Polarized Immune Responses Regulate Cancer Development
Lisa Coussens, PhD

How Might HIV Infection and Therapy Drive Aging and Age-Related Disease?
Judith Campisi, PhD

The HIV Tat Protein Regulates Immune Activation via SIRT1
Melanie Ott, MD, PhD


Translational Implications of HIV and Aging

Non-AIDS Morbidity: Accelerated Aging or Disease-Related Risk Factor?
Carl Grunfeld, MD, PhD

The Intersection of HIV and Geriatric Medicine
Kenneth Covinsky, MD, MPH

Bridging the Basic and Clinical: Novel Therapeutic Strategies to Prevent HIV-Associated Aging
Peter Hunt, MD

HIV and Osteoporosis
Steven T. Harris, MD, FACP

HIV-Associated Inflammation and Accelerated Decline in Renal Function
Andy Choi, MD

HIV, Inflammation, and Atherosclerosis
Priscilla Hsue, MD

HIV-1, Inflammation, and Neuropathogenesis: Implications for Neurological and Cognitive Function
Serena Spudich, MD

Myriad Genetics Suspends Its HIV Maturation Inhibitor Program

AIDSmeds.com: "Myriad Genetics announced it is suspending its HIV drug development program and will focus instead on oncology drugs. The company says it is taking this step “for strategic, business reasons; and a reduction in workforce.”

Myriad had been developing a maturation inhibitor called bevirimat (MPC-4326, PA-457) since 2009, after purchasing the rights to the drug from Panacos Pharmaceuticals."

Video coverage of San Francisco awards to Dr. Hütter

CBS5.com: "Three years ago, a doctor from Berlin performed a stem cell transplant that likely cured a man's HIV. Now California researchers hope to advance the doctor's research.

On the steps of City Hall in San Francisco, top dignitaries honored a young doctor from Germany, and for very good reason. Dr. Gero Hütter may have found a way to cure patients of HIV infections and AIDS."

Notes:

CBS video interview at http://cbs5.com/video/?id=65956@kpix.dayport.com

Also see ABC's coverage at http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/health&id=7477511

The awards and ceremony to honor the work of Dr. Gero Hütter were organized by the AIDS Policy Project. The patient, a U.S. citizen treated in Berlin, has been free of detectable HIV for about three years so far.

GERMAN DOCTOR HONORED FOR FIRST FUNCTIONAL CURE FOR HIV/AIDS

AIDS Policy Project: June 3, San Francisco City Hall, Front Steps, 11:30 AM

"Gero Hütter, MD, the Berlin physician who performed the historic stem cell transplant in 2007 that has to date functionally cured an American patient with HIV/AIDS, will be honored by San Francisco Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi and the AIDS Policy Project on the steps of San Francisco City Hall.

"Dr. Hütter’s achievement, known colloquially as the “Berlin patient,” has sparked great interest in the scientific community. However, few people outside the scientific world have taken note of this case, which is likely the first successful cure of a person with AIDS. The patient has been completely HIV-free for three years; there is no fixed threshold for when a patient is considered officially cured, since it has never happened before. Grassroots AIDS treatment activists, including many people with AIDS, asked Supervisor Mirkarimi to make this proclamation thanking Dr. Hütter for his work."

Universal Care Linked to High HIV Treatment Success Rates in U.S. Military

POZ: "HIV-positive U.S. military personnel—all of whom receive free health care—had much higher rates of success with antiretroviral (ARV) therapy than is typically seen in the average medical practice, according to a study published May 27 in AIDS Research and Therapy."

Two Independent Epidemics of HIV in Maryland

JAIDS Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes: "Conclusions: Multiple HIV-1 subtypes exist in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area with a significant non-B-infected population in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC, suggesting 2 independent epidemics of HIV in Maryland. Population-based surveillance inclusive of groups at higher risk of non-B strains is essential to monitor the prevalence and variations of HIV subtypes in Maryland and the United States."

Loss caused by some anti-HIV drugs persists in the long term

Aidsmap: "Discontinuing treatment with d4T, the drug most associated with fat loss, had little long-term impact on limb-fat gain. Patients who adopted this strategy experienced an average annual increase of fat in the leg of only 1%. “Likewise”, write the investigators, “little gain was associated with discontinuation of AZT or other antiretroviral drugs."

Lost funding means lost lives, says MSF

Aidsmap: "'About 75 percent of HIV funding in developing countries is international – you can't replace that in the short term,' said Mit Philips, a health policy analyst at MSF and one of the report's authors."

Treatment and PrEP could be on a ‘collision course’, warns resistance expert

Aidsmap: “I’ve explained the importance of resistance at major think-tanks and people just don’t get it,” he said. People did not make the connection between the misuse of drugs as prophylaxis and subsequent drug resistance: “Look at all the cows being bombed with antibiotics and the number of resistant enteropathogens like MRSA developing.”

Abacavir/Lamivudine/Zidovudine Maintenance After Standard Induction in Antiretroviral Therapy-Naïve Patients: FREE Randomized Trial Interim Results

AIDS Patient Care and STDs: "Maintenance with a triple nucleoside reverse transcriptase Inhibitor (NRTI) regimen after successful induction with a dual NRTI/protease inhibitor (PI) combination may be advantageous, because of low pill burden, favorable lipids, and less drug interactions. ... Patients were randomized after reaching VL less than 50 copies per milliliter on two consecutive occasions between 12 and 24 weeks after start of zidovudine/lamuvidine and lopinavir/ritonavir combination. ... Patients on successful standard ART can be safely switched to a NRTI-only regimen, at least for the tested time period."

Rituximab Treatment for Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura Associated with Human Immunodeficiency Virus Failing Extensive Treatment with Plasma Ex...

AIDS Patient Care and STDs:"Initial treatment with plasma exchange resulted in resolution of these abnormalities. However, the discontinuation of plasma exchange resulted in the prompt recurrence of laboratory abnormalities diagnostic for TTP. Treatment failure was established after observing 6 and 4 such responses requiring 41 and 40 episodes of plasma exchange for each patient, respectively. Patients were subsequently treated with 2–4 doses of weekly rituximab resulting in durable remission. These patients are now 21 and 9 months beyond rituximab treatment. Rituximab appears to be safe and effective in this setting."

Prevalence and Factors Associated with Renal Dysfunction Among HIV-Infected Patients

AIDS Patient Care and STDs - 0(0):"In summary, renal dysfunction was relatively uncommon among our HIV-infected patients, perhaps due to their young age, lack of comorbidities, or as a result of our definition that did not include proteinuria. Renal dysfunction was associated with duration of tenofovir use. Factors associated with renal loss among tenofovir users included female gender, African American ethnicity, and CD4 nadir <200cells/mm3. Consideration for more frequent monitoring of kidney function among these select HIV patients may be warranted."