Genes Predict Immune Response to Antiretroviral Treatment A set of mutations to a person’s genes predicted how completely their immune system recovered after starting antiretroviral therapy, say the authors of a study to be published in a forthcoming issue of Nature Medicine and reported by Newswise.
March 27, 2008
Some People Not Appropriately Treated for High Cholesterol Some HIV-positive people at high risk for heart disease are not having their levels of “bad” LDL cholesterol managed as aggressively as treatment guidelines recommend, say the authors of a single-clinic study published in the April 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases.
March 26, 2008
Lower-Dose Zerit May Improve Some Side Effects Halving the dose of Zerit (stavudine) may reduce the risk of serious side effects without compromising its efficacy, say researchers of a study published in the April 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases.
March 25, 2008
Charting the Future of Protease Monotherapy It has been suggested that using a Norvir (ritonavir)-boosted protease inhibitor (PI) without the use of other antiretrovirals to treat HIV is less effective, and more likely to cause drug resistance, than standard three-drug regimens in clinical trials.
March 24, 2008
Group Psychotherapy Improves Mood, but Not Adherence A 12-week course of specialized psychological group counseling improved mood and quality of life in people living with HIV, but did not improve CD4 count, viral load or adherence to antiretroviral therapy, according to a study published in the March 30 issue of AIDS.
March 21, 2008
PIs Increase Heart Disease Risk, and NNRTIs Decrease It Protease inhibitors (PIs) are associated with increased blood levels of fibrinogen—a marker of heart disease risk—whereas non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) are associated with decreased blood levels of fibrinogen, according to a study published in the March 30 issue of AIDS.
March 20, 2008
Tenofovir Better Tolerated Than Zidovudine for PEP Nonoccupational post-exposure prophylaxis (NPEP) regimens containing tenofovir were better tolerated and more likely to be completed than those containing zidovudine, according to a study conducted at the Fenway Community Health center in Boston and reported in the April 1 issue of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes (JAIDS).
March 19, 2008
Some Genetically Protected Against Lipoatrophy Some people have genetic mutations that protect them from lipoatrophy, the loss of fat beneath the skin in the face and limbs caused by some HIV drugs, while others have genes that make them more vulnerable, say the authors of a new study published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases and reported by AIDSmap.
March 18, 2008
Mental Illness and Substance Use Delay HIV Treatment
People with untreated mental illness or substance abuse, or both together, start HIV treatment later than people without mental illness or substance abuse, according to a study published in the March 1 issue of AIDS Patient Care and STDs.
March 17, 2008
Universal Health Care Doesn’t Ensure Universal HIV Treatment
Forty percent of all those who died of AIDS in British Columbia, a province in Canada with true universal access to HIV care and treatment, died without having accessed HIV treatment, according to a study published in the April 1 issue of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.
March 14, 2008
Trust for Doctors High in French Study Though the vast majority of people living with HIV surveyed in France had a high degree of trust in their HIV doctor, a small percentage began to lose trust over time, say the authors of a new study.
March 13, 2008
Prezista Warning: Liver Problems Possible Tibotec has updated its prescribing information for the protease inhibitor Prezista to include a warning about possible liver toxicity, according to a letter being sent to health care providers by the company in cooperation with the FDA.
Race and Gender Impact HIV Treatment Side Effects Race and gender play a role in what side effects a person is likely to experience when starting an antiretroviral drug regimen, according to a study published in the April 1 issue of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.
March 12, 2008
Mentally Ill and Substance Users Not Getting Care A significant percentage of people living with HIV who have a diagnosed mental illness or a substance abuse problem, or both, are not getting appropriate treatment, according to a study published in the April 1 issue of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.
March 11, 2008
Fish Oil and Fenofibrate an Effective Combo for High Triglycerides
The combination of fish oil with fenofibrate was more effective than either treatment alone in reducing triglycerides to desired levels in people living with HIV, according to a study published in the April 1 issue of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.
March 10, 2008
Test for Abacavir Hypersensitivity Works in Black and White Patients The HLA-B*5701 test to predict who will have a hypersensitivity reaction (HSR) to abacavir (found in Ziagen, Epzicom and Trizivir) works equally well in black and white patients with HIV, according to a study published in the April 1 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases.
March 07, 2008
Genetically Reprogrammed Cells Could Battle HIV Genetically reprogramming infection-fighting cells known as CD8 cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) made them especially efficient at wiping out HIV in laboratory experiments, report researchers at the Albert Einstein College in the Bronx.
March 06, 2008
Neuropathy Pain Patch Fails Test A dermal patch that releases the experimental drug NGX-4010 for HIV-related distal sensory polyneuropathy (DSP), a painful condition caused by nerve damage, failed to perform better than a placebo in a phase III trial, according to NeurogesX, the developer of the compound.
Bevirimat Success Hinges on HIV Mutations The experimental maturation inhibitor, Bevirimat (PA-457), is most effective in people whose virus does not carry a specific group of genetic mutations in HIV’s Gag protein, announced the drug’s developer, Panacos.
March 05, 2008
HIV-Positive Women Remain Slimmer but Have Higher Waist-to-Hip Ratios HIV-positive women have high waist-to-hip ratios (WHR), a potential risk factor for heart disease, despite being less overweight than HIV-negative women, according to a study published in the March 1 issue of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.
March 04, 2008
Pneumonia Vaccine Effective in HIV People with HIV who are given the pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPV) are 35 percent less likely to develop pneumonia than those who are not vaccinated, according to a new study to be published in an upcoming issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases.
March 03, 2008
Disalcid Improves Inflammation, But Has Liver Toxicity The anti-inflammatory drug Disalcid (salsalate) reduces blood vessel inflammation, which may decrease the risk of a heart attack in people living with HIV, according to study results published in the March 12 issue of AIDS.
More Treatment News
Have news about HIV? Send press releases, news tips and other announcements to news@poz.com.
