109 resultados para Highly Active Anti Retroviral Therapy (HAART)


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Hepatocellular carcinoma is an insidious disease that grows without eliciting pain. In the absence of surveillance, the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma is usually made at a late stage, which excludes curative treatments and leaves patients with few therapeutic options. For years, conventional chemotherapy was administered but yielded poor results. This is not surprising since hepatocytes are well equipped to survive exposure to chemotherapeutics. Hepatocytes posses an extensive repertoire of enzymes and pumps capable of degrading and exporting these drugs. Bypassing hepatocytic tumor cells in favour of supportive cells represents an alternative treatment target that has achieved modest success. The supportive cells in the hepatic vasculature comprise endothelial cells and pericytes. Thanks to a concerted effort from fundamental and pharmacological researchers, several drugs targeted to the vasculature are reaching the clinic. This manuscript reviews the rationale for targeting the vascular cells to treat hepatocellular carcinoma, the signalling pathways underlying angiogenesis and the most promising drugs.

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Cytokines play a critical role in the pathogenesis of asthma. Asthma resolution may depend on the correction of dysregulated cytokine expression, which is a characteristic feature of this chronic inflammatory disease. It is, therefore, not surprising that attempts have been made to either block cytokines present at elevated levels or to substitute cytokines that are insufficiently expressed in asthma. In this article, the results of these studies are discussed, and the obtained insights regarding asthma pathogenesis and new treatment options are summarized.

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OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study is to compare the clinical, microbiological and host-derived effects in the non-surgical treatment of initial peri-implantitis with either adjunctive local drug delivery (LDD) or adjunctive photodynamic therapy (PDT) after 12 months. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty subjects with initial peri-implantitis, that is, pocket probing depths (PPD) 4-6 mm with bleeding on probing (BoP) and radiographic bone loss â¤2 mm, were randomly assigned to two treatment groups. All implants were mechanically debrided with titanium curettes and with a glycine-based powder airpolishing system. Implants in the test group (N = 20) received adjunctive PDT, whereas minocycline microspheres were locally delivered into the peri-implant pockets of control implants (N = 20). At sites with residual BoP, treatment was repeated after 3, 6, 9 and 12 months. The primary outcome variable was the change in the number of peri-implant sites with BoP. Secondary outcome variables included changes in PPD, clinical attachment level (CAL), mucosal recession (REC) and in bacterial counts and crevicular fluid (CF) levels of host-derived biomarkers. RESULTS: After 12 months, the number of BoP-positive sites decreased statistically significantly (P < 0.05) from baseline in both groups (PDT: 4.03 ± 1.66-1.74 ± 1.37, LDD: 4.41 ± 1.47-1.55 ± 1.26). A statistically significant (P < 0.05) decrease in PPD from baseline was observed at PDT-treated sites up to 9 months (4.19 ± 0.55 mm to 3.89 ± 0.68 mm) and up to 12 months at LDD-treated sites (4.39 ± 0.77 mm to 3.83 ± 0.85 mm). Counts of Porphyromonas gingivalis and Tannerella forsythia decreased statistically significantly (P < 0.05) from baseline to 6 months in the PDT and to 12 months in the LDD group, respectively. CF levels of IL-1β decreased statistically significantly (P < 0.05) from baseline to 12 months in both groups. No statistically significant differences (P > 0.05) were observed between groups after 12 months with respect to clinical, microbiological and host-derived parameters. CONCLUSIONS: Non-surgical mechanical debridement with adjunctive PDT was equally effective in the reduction of mucosal inflammation as with adjunctive delivery of minocycline microspheres up to 12 months. Adjunctive PDT may represent an alternative approach to LDD in the non-surgical treatment of initial peri-implantitis.

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Epoxyisoprostanes EI (1) and EC (2) are effective inhibitors of the secretion of proinflammatory cytokines IL-6 and IL-12. In detailed studies toward the investigation of the molecular mode of action of these structures, a highly potent lactone (3) derived from 1 was identified. The known isoprostanoids 1 and 2 are most likely precursors of 3, the product of facile intramolecular reaction between the epoxide with the carboxylic acid in 2.

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The object of this essay is to discuss Ludwig Wittgenstein's remarks in Philosophical Investigations and elsewhere in the posthumously published writings concerning the role of therapy in relation to philosophy. Wittgenstein's reflections seem to suggest that there is a kind of philosophy or mode of investigation targeting the philosophical grammar of language uses that gratuitously give rise to philosophical problems, and produce in many thinkers philosophical anxieties for which the proper therapy is intended to offer relief. Two possible objectives of later Wittgensteinian therapy are proposed, for subjective psychological versus objective semantic symptoms of ailments that a therapy might address for the sake of relieving philosophical anxieties. The psychological in its most plausible form is rejected, leaving only the semantic. Semantic therapy in the sense defined and developed is more general and long-lasting, and more in the spirit of Wittgenstein's project on a variety of levels. A semantic approach treats language rather than the thinking, language-using subject as the patient needing therapy, and directs its attention to the treatment of problems in language and the conceptual framework a language game use expresses in its philosophical grammar, rather than to soothing unhappy or socially ill-adjusted individual psychologies.

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OBJECTIVES: To estimate changes in coronary risk factors and their implications for coronary heart disease (CHD) rates in men starting highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). METHODS: Men participating in the Swiss HIV Cohort Study with measurements of coronary risk factors both before and up to 3 years after starting HAART were identified. Fractional polynomial regression was used to graph associations between risk factors and time on HAART. Mean risk factor changes associated with starting HAART were estimated using multilevel models. A prognostic model was used to predict corresponding CHD rate ratios. RESULTS: Of 556 eligible men, 259 (47%) started a nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) and 297 a protease inhibitor (PI) based regimen. Levels of most risk factors increased sharply during the first 3 months on HAART, then more slowly. Increases were greater with PI- than NNRTI-based HAART for total cholesterol (1.18 vs. 0.98 mmol L(-1)), systolic blood pressure (3.6 vs. 0 mmHg) and BMI (1.04 vs. 0.55 kg m(2)) but not HDL cholesterol (0.24 vs. 0.32 mmol L(-1)) or glucose (1.02 vs. 1.03 mmol L(-1)). Predicted CHD rate ratios were 1.40 (95% CI 1.13-1.75) and 1.17 (0.95-1.47) for PI- and NNRTI-based HAART respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Coronary heart disease rates will increase in a majority of patients starting HAART: however the increases corresponding to typical changes in risk factors are relatively modest and could be offset by lifestyle changes.

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Objectives: We assessed mortality associated with immunologic and virologic patterns of response at 6 months of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in HIV-infected individuals from resource-limited countries in Africa and South America. Methods: Patients who initiated HAART between 1996 and 2007, aged 16 years or older, and had at least 1 measurement (HIV-1 RNA plasma viral load or CD4 cell count) at 6 months of therapy (3-9 month window) were included. Therapy response was categorized as complete, discordant (virologic only or immunologic only), and absent. Associations between 6-month response to therapy and all-cause mortality were assessed by Cox proportional hazards regression. Robust standard errors were calculated to account for intrasite correlation. Results: A total of 7160 patients, corresponding to 15,107 person-years, were analyzed. In multivariable analysis adjusted for age at HAART initiation, baseline clinical stage and CD4 cell count, year of HAART initiation, clinic, occurrence of an AIDS-defining condition within the first 6 months of treatment, and discordant and absent responses were associated with increased risk of death. Conclusions: Similar to reports from high-income countries, discordant immunologic and virologic responses were associated with intermediate risk of death compared with complete and no response in this large cohort of HIV-1 patients from resource-limited countries. Our results support a recommendation for wider availability of plasma viral load testing to monitor antiretroviral therapy in these settings.

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The advent of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in 1996 led to a decrease in the incidence of Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), but not of other cancers, among people with HIV or AIDS (PWHA). It also led to marked increases in their life expectancy.

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In contrast to adults, autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) as part of the salvage strategy after high-dose chemo/radiotherapy in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) related Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) is not yet established for children. We report on a 13-year patient with congenital HIV infection and refractory Burkitt lymphoma, who was successfully treated by high-dose therapy (HDT) including rituximab followed by ASCT. After 26 months follow-up the patient remains in complete remission and his HIV parameters have normalized with continued highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). HIV infection may no longer exclude children from ASCT as part of salvage therapy. Pediatr Blood Cancer (c) 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

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BACKGROUND: Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) is being scaled up in developing countries. We compared baseline characteristics and outcomes during the first year of HAART between HIV-1-infected patients in low-income and high-income settings. METHODS: 18 HAART programmes in Africa, Asia, and South America (low-income settings) and 12 HIV cohort studies from Europe and North America (high-income settings) provided data for 4810 and 22,217, respectively, treatment-naive adult patients starting HAART. All patients from high-income settings and 2725 (57%) patients from low-income settings were actively followed-up and included in survival analyses. FINDINGS: Compared with high-income countries, patients starting HAART in low-income settings had lower CD4 cell counts (median 108 cells per muL vs 234 cells per muL), were more likely to be female (51%vs 25%), and more likely to start treatment with a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) (70%vs 23%). At 6 months, the median number of CD4 cells gained (106 cells per muL vs 103 cells per muL) and the percentage of patients reaching HIV-1 RNA levels lower than 500 copies/mL (76%vs 77%) were similar. Mortality was higher in low-income settings (124 deaths during 2236 person-years of follow-up) than in high-income settings (414 deaths during 20,532 person-years). The adjusted hazard ratio (HR) of mortality comparing low-income with high-income settings fell from 4.3 (95% CI 1.6-11.8) during the first month to 1.5 (0.7-3.0) during months 7-12. The provision of treatment free of charge in low-income settings was associated with lower mortality (adjusted HR 0.23; 95% CI 0.08-0.61). INTERPRETATION: Patients starting HAART in resource-poor settings have increased mortality rates in the first months on therapy, compared with those in developed countries. Timely diagnosis and assessment of treatment eligibility, coupled with free provision of HAART, might reduce this excess mortality.

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BACKGROUND: Many HIV-infected patients on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) experience metabolic complications including dyslipidaemia and insulin resistance, which may increase their coronary heart disease (CHD) risk. We developed a prognostic model for CHD tailored to the changes in risk factors observed in patients starting HAART. METHODS: Data from five cohort studies (British Regional Heart Study, Caerphilly and Speedwell Studies, Framingham Offspring Study, Whitehall II) on 13,100 men aged 40-70 and 114,443 years of follow up were used. CHD was defined as myocardial infarction or death from CHD. Model fit was assessed using the Akaike Information Criterion; generalizability across cohorts was examined using internal-external cross-validation. RESULTS: A parametric model based on the Gompertz distribution generalized best. Variables included in the model were systolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglyceride, glucose, diabetes mellitus, body mass index and smoking status. Compared with patients not on HAART, the estimated CHD hazard ratio (HR) for patients on HAART was 1.46 (95% CI 1.15-1.86) for moderate and 2.48 (95% CI 1.76-3.51) for severe metabolic complications. CONCLUSIONS: The change in the risk of CHD in HIV-infected men starting HAART can be estimated based on typical changes in risk factors, assuming that HRs estimated using data from non-infected men are applicable to HIV-infected men. Based on this model the risk of CHD is likely to increase, but increases may often be modest, and could be offset by lifestyle changes.

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OBJECTIVES: To assess the frequency of and risk factors for discordant responses at 6 months on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in previously treatment-naive HIV patients from resource-limited countries. METHODS: The Antiretroviral Therapy in Low-Income Countries Collaboration is a network of clinics providing care and treatment to HIV-infected patients in Africa, Latin America, and Asia. Patients who initiated therapy between 1996 and 2004, were aged 16 years or older, and had a baseline CD4 cell count were included in this analysis. Responses were defined based on plasma viral load (PVL) and CD4 cell count at 6 months as complete virologic and immunologic (VR(+)IR(+)), virologic only (VR(+)IR(-)), immunologic only (VR(-)IR(+)), and nonresponse (VR(-)IR(-)). Multinomial logistic regression was used to assess the association between therapy responses and clinical and demographic variables. RESULTS: Of the 3111 patients eligible for analysis, 1914 had available information at 6 months of therapy: 1074 (56.1%) were VR(+)IR(+), 364 (19.0%) were VR(+)IR(-), 283 (14.8%) were (VR(-)IR(+)), and 193 (10.1%) were VR(-)IR(-). OF THE 3111 patients eligible for analysis, 1914 had available information at 6 months of therapy: 1074 (56.1%) were VRIR, 364 (19.0%) were VRIR, 283 (14.8%) were (VRIR), and 193 (10.1%) were VRIR. Compared with complete responders, virologic-only responders were older, had a higher baseline CD4 cell count, had a lower baseline PVL, and were more likely to have received a nonstandard HAART regimen; immunologic-only responders were younger, had a lower baseline CD4 cell count, had a higher baseline PVL, and were more likely to have received a protease inhibitor-based regimen. CONCLUSIONS: The frequency of and risk factors for discordant responses were comparable to those observed in developed countries. Longer follow-up is needed to assess the long-term impact of discordant responses on mortality in these resource-limited settings.

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BACKGROUND: Blood lipid abnormalities in patients on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) have been associated with exposure to protease inhibitors (PIs), particularly ritonavir. First therapy with a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) leads to relatively favourable lipid profiles. We report on medium-term lipid profiles (up to 5 years) for antiretroviral-naive patients starting NNRTI- and PI-based HAART in the Swiss HIV Cohort Study. METHODS: Since April 2000, blood samples taken at visits scheduled every 6 months have been analysed for cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations. For 1065 antiretroviral-naive patients starting HAART after April 2000, we estimated changes in concentration over time using multivariate linear regression with adjustment for baseline covariates, use of lipid-lowering drugs and whether the sample was taken in a fasting state. RESULTS: Non-high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels increase with increasing exposure to either PI- or NNRTI-based therapy, HDL cholesterol levels increase and triglyceride levels decrease with increasing exposure to NNRTI-based therapy, whereas triglyceride levels increase with increasing exposure to PI-based therapy. Between NNRTI-based therapies, there is a slight difference in triglyceride levels, which tend to increase with increasing exposure to efavirenz and to decrease with increasing exposure to nevirapine. Of the three common PI-based therapies, nelfinavir appears to have a relatively favourable lipid profile, with little change with increasing exposure. Of the other two PI therapies, lopinavir with ritonavir has a more favourable profile than indinavir with ritonavir, with smaller increases in both non-HDL cholesterol and triglycerides and an increase in HDL cholesterol. Increasing exposure to abacavir is associated with a decrease in the level of triglycerides. CONCLUSION: In general, NNRTI-based therapy is associated with a more favourable lipid profile than PI-based therapy, but different PI-based therapies are associated with very different lipid profiles. Nelfinavir appears to have a relatively favourable lipid profile. Of the two boosted PI therapies, lopinavir appears to have a more favourable lipid profile than indinavir.