Medical HIV News Briefs

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 May News Briefs

Appropriate Treatment Methods Can Prevent Nearly All Risk of Mother-To-Child HIV Transmission, Study Says
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=51987

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  New Analysis of SMART Study Backs Continuing HAART Even With CD4 Above 350
  Maintaining a CD4+ cell count over 350 cells/mm³ results in a lower risk of AIDS-related complications or death among HIV-infected patients, according to the results from an analysis of the SMART study that was published in the April 15 issue of the Journal of Infectious Diseases. The analysis showed that, over a mean 16 months of follow-up, patients who were taking HAART and had a CD4+ cell count above 350 were less than half as likely to experience an opportunistic infection or die than patients who were not taking HAART and had a CD4+ cell count above 350. The researchers attributed the difference to the presence of a higher HIV viral load among the patients who discontinued therapy.
  
  
  Study Affirms Value of Initiating HIV Treatment Before CD4 Drops Below 350
  In a separate analysis of SMART data published in the same issue of the Journal of Infectious Diseases, findings from other recent studies regarding the benefits of early HAART initiation were reaffirmed. Among a subset of SMART trial participants who were either antiretroviral naive or had not received therapy in the preceding six months, those who initiated HAART with a CD4+ cell count greater than 350 were found to be significantly less likely to develop an opportunistic infection, develop a serious non-AIDS-defining event or die than patients who initiated HAART when their CD4+ cell count dropped below 250.
  
  
  Unusually High Immune Activation Could Present Danger for Some Elite HIV Controllers
  Elite HIV controllers are an extremely fortunate subset of the HIV-infected population, due to their ability to control viremia for a seemingly indefinite period of time without the aid of antiretroviral therapy. However, there may be negative consequences to the unusually strong HIV-specific immune responses exhibited by some elite controllers, according to U.S. researchers. In this interview from the 15th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, Peter Hunt, M.D., explains the results of his study, which found that some elite controllers may experience a CD4+ cell decline over time due to higher levels of immune activation.
  
  
  Improving Immunologic Outcomes Among HIV-Infected Patients: A Talk With Steven Deeks, M.D.
  The development of therapies that improve an HIV-infected patient's HIV-specific immune response has long been an area of interest for many HIV researchers. One of the foremost researchers in this field is Steven Deeks, M.D. Dr. Deeks recently sat down with Richard Jefferys of Treatment Action Group to discuss his most recent research in the field of immune-based HIV therapy.
  
  
  Development Halted on Experimental CCR5 Antagonist
  The flurry of new antiretroviral approvals in the United States over the past couple of years obscures the brutal reality of drug development: Many experimental drugs never make it to the application phase with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. One drug at risk is INCB9471, a medication in the new CCR5 antagonist class whose development was halted last month. In spite of promising early studies, the drug's maker decided to stop researching INCB9471 -- a decision that, according to this report from Project Inform, may have been motivated in part by slow sales of maraviroc (Selzentry, Celsentri), the first and only CCR5 antagonist approved in the United States thus far.
   

See April  Medical Briefs Archives

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