AIDS reviews最新文献

Integrase strand-transfer inhibitors (INSTI) are the latest class of antiretrovirals registered in Mexico. They include raltegravir (RAL), elvitegravir/cobicistat (EVG/c), dolutegravir (DTG) and bictegravir (BIC). Along with international guidelines, Mexico adopted the use of INSTI about two years ago as initial antiretroviral therapy (ART). This is partially due to the increase in the pre-treatment resistance to non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTI), mainly efavirenz (EFV). Furthermore, INSTI depict greater efficacy, safety and less drug-drug interactions than NNRTI and protease inhibitors (PI). DTG is a second generation INSTI with a high barrier to resistance. It is recommended in international and national guidelines in a wide variety of clinical scenarios for persons living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (PLWHIV), including treatment-naïve, first-line NNRTI treatment failure, simplification switch in suppressed patients, pregnancy, women with childbearing potential, adolescents and children over 6 years of age. DTG is mostly metabolized by the liver UDP-glucuronosyltransferase, and exhibits low drug-drug interactions overall; on the other hand, it has an extremely low renal elimination, therefore may be used in PLWHIV with advanced kidney disease without dose modification. Tuberculosis is a common coinfection in Mexico that requires rifampin-based anti-tuberculosis therapy, which requires increasing DTG to double dosing (50 mg BID). In Mexico, DTG-based regimens are likely to be cost-effective in many scenarios, given its acquisition costs and the particularities of the HIV population and associated clinical conditions, including a relatively high proportion of the following: i) new HIV diagnoses presenting at acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) stage; ii) high rate of tuberculosis coinfection; iii) frequent first-line NNRTI treatment failures; and iv) relatively high proportion of infected children and adolescents.

The arrival of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Europe exploded initially in North Italy and soon thereafter at several other major European cities, including Madrid. Indeed, Madrid was the epicenter of SARSCoV-2 infection in Spain, with a dramatic surge of cases since mid-March 2020.

The novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a highly infectious RNA coronavirus responsible for the pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Recent advances in virology, epidemiology, diagnosis, and clinical management of COVID-19 have contributed to the control and prevention of this disease, but re-positivity of SARS-CoV-2 in recovered COVID-19 patients has brought a new challenge for this worldwide anti-viral battle. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests of the SARS-CoV-2 pathogen is widely used in clinical diagnosis, but a positive RT-PCR result may be multifactorial, including false positive, SARS-CoV-2 RNA fragment shedding, reinfection of SARS-CoV-2, or re-activation of COVID-19. Re-infection of SARS-CoV-2 or re-activation of COVID-19 is an indicator of live viral carriers and isolation/treatment is needed, but SARS-CoV-2 RNA fragment shedding is not. SARS-CoV-2 RNA is recently reported to integrate into the host genome, but the far-reaching outcome is currently unclear. Therefore, it is critical for appropriate manipulation and prevention of COVID-19 to distinguish these causal factors of SARS-CoV-2 re-positivity. In this review article, we updated the current knowledge of SARS-CoV-2 re-positivity in discharged COVID-19 patients with a focus on re-infection and re-activation. We proposed a hypothetical flowchart for handling of the SARS-CoV-2 re-positive cases.

Historically, there has been concern that conflict may exacerbate the HIV epidemic. We conducted a systematic review to examine HIV prevalence in conflict-affected populations compared to district-level or countrywide HIV prevalence. Following PRISMA guidelines, studies presenting original HIV prevalence data published between 2005 and 2020 were drawn from PubMed, Scopus, and Embase. Data extracted included HIV prevalence, methods, dates, location, and population type. Studies were assessed for bias. Ten met criteria for data extraction; all focused on populations in sub-Saharan African. Most of the studies reported on mixed population settings while one was in a refugee camp. Six reported HIV prevalence higher than district- or country-level prevalence, while four reported lower HIV prevalence. Seven demonstrated moderate-to-high likelihood of bias in sampling, and five used methods limiting their comparability with local HIV prevalence. The relationship between armed conflict and HIV prevalence remains difficult to evaluate and likely varies by socioeconomic indicators.

Many innovations, such as long-acting agents, new delivery modalities (injectable and nanoparticles), and novel paradigms (immunotherapy or dual therapy), have been introduced to facilitate the administration of antiretroviral treatment (ART) to patients infected with HIV and improve their adherence and quality of life without altering the drugs' effectiveness. Studies have investigated the use of intermittent treatment, especially weekends-off ART in HIV-suppressed patients. In this review, we analyzed data concerning intermittent ART to help determine if this strategy is reasonable for the management of patients living with HIV. The results of early studies, in 2007-2015, were encouraging, but the studies were flawed because of the small number of patients included, the absence of a control arm, and random designs with variable patterns of ART administration. From 2016, studies have included more patients, and some are prospective, randomized controlled studies. While non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors have been most studied, treatment with integrase inhibitors also has been reported, with the findings that viral resistance did not appear when treatment failed with dolutegravir but not with raltegravir. The most recent study, QUATUOR, found that a 4-day on, 3-day off pattern was non-inferior to the continuous pattern (7 days on). Better-quality studies with long-term follow-up (96 weeks or more) are needed to determine the validity of intermittent treatment and the optimal regimens and monitoring to be used in the management of viro-logically suppressed patients living with HIV.

Standards of HIV/AIDS prevention and control in some areas of China are still poor. People live longer with the use of therapeutic drugs, which may lead to an increase in the number of HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND). However, only a few multicenter and large-scale studies investigating the prevalence and incidence of HAND have been undertaken in China. While the number of HIV/AIDS cases in China is still large, the prevalence of HAND is remains unclear. The diagnosis of HAND in China is mainly based on the international diagnostic scale, to which Chinese features are added. At present, five classes of antiretroviral therapy drugs widely used in China: nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs), non-NRTIs (NNRTIs), protease inhibitors, integrase inhibitors, and membrane fusion inhibitors (FIs). There is no specific treatment or drug for HAND in China. Efforts are needed in the following aspects: trying to understand more epidemic features of HAND in China; formulating a unified neuropsychological scale with Chinese characteristics to diagnose HAND and adopt new approaches to identify different stages of HAND; early stage (reversible) accurate hierarchical prediction and diagnosis, combined with artificial intelligence to improve the work efficiency of doctors, and to solve the failure of outpatient diagnosis cases (asymptomatic patients); and exploring and establishing a perfect system for target treatment with HAND.

HIV-1 is a retrovirus capable of establishing viral reservoirs that remain stable for extended periods under suppressive antiretroviral therapy (ART). Immune dysfunction and latency are well known to contribute to this longevity, but the respective roles of viral replication and latently infected (LI) cell proliferation under suppressive antiretroviral therapy (ART) have long been controversial. This historical review critically appraises the body of evidence regarding possible viral replication and proliferation of infected cells under ART. An ever-growing body of genetic and phylogenetic studies has demonstrated that HIV-infected cells are able to proliferate and contribute to the longevity of the reservoir in ART-treated patients. The role of ongoing replication remains controversial: it has been well established that HIV does not undergo evolution during ART or develop drug resistance, but some genetic, phylogenetic, and in vivo imaging studies have suggested that there may be ongoing replication despite this. The respective roles of viral replication and cellular proliferation in maintaining the LI reservoir remains an area of controversy. Elucidating these processes may allow us design interventions to reduce the size of the LI reservoir, increasing the length of treatment interruptions during which the virus will remain adequately suppressed, bringing us closer to a functional cure. Novel experimental techniques such as immuno-PET and digital droplet PCR (ddPCR) are increasingly being employed, and these, along with rapid particle sorting techniques currently in develop-ment, will be necessary to fully answer this question.

HIV-1 infection has caused a number of deaths worldwide and remains a global health concern. Combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) inhibits viral replication, prevents CD4+ T cell loss, and thus slows HIV disease progression. However, cART does not eradicate HIV-1. Infected individuals must remain on treatment for their entire lives and treatment interruption will result in viral rebound.