Long-term efficacy of darunavir/ritonavir monotherapy in patients with HIV-1 viral suppression: week 96 results from the MONOI ANRS 136 study.

OBJECTIVES: Long-term results at week 96 are needed to evaluate the capacity of the darunavir/ritonavir monotherapy strategy to maintain a sustained control of the HIV-1 viral load. METHODS: MONOI is a prospective, open-label, non-inferiority, randomized, 96 week trial comparing darunavir/ritonavir monotherapy versus a darunavir/ritonavir triple-therapy strategy to maintain HIV-1 viral load suppression in HIV-1-infected patients. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT00412551. RESULTS: From 225 randomized patients, 219 patients reached the 48 week follow-up and 211 reached the 96 week follow-up (106 patients in the darunavir monotherapy arm and 105 in the darunavir triple-therapy arm). Baseline characteristics were well balanced between the two treatment groups. At week 96, in intent-to-treat analysis, 91/103 patients (88%, 95% CI 81-94) allocated to the darunavir/ritonavir monotherapy arm and 87/104 patients (84%, 95% CI 75-90) allocated to the darunavir triple-therapy arm achieved an HIV-1 viral load <50 copies/mL, with no statistical difference between the two groups. Throughout the 96 week follow-up, 66/112 patients (59%, 95% CI 49-68) and 79/113 patients (70%, 95% CI 61-78) consistently had HIV-1 RNA <50 copies/mL with darunavir/ritonavir monotherapy and darunavir/ritonavir triple therapy, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The MONOI study establishes darunavir/ritonavir monotherapy as durable and efficacious for maintaining virological suppression in HIV-1 patients. Darunavir/ritonavir monotherapy should be considered as a (tailored) treatment option for standard triple-therapy patients who have had a substantial period of viral suppression.

Body fat distribution in HIV-infected patients treated for 96 weeks with darunavir/ritonavir monotherapy versus darunavir/ritonavir plus nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors: the MONOI-ANRS136 substudy.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to evaluate fat tissue distribution in HIV-infected patients with suppressed viraemia treated with darunavir/ritonavir (darunavir/r) monotherapy versus darunavir/r triple therapy. METHODS: This study was a substudy of the randomized, multicentre, open-label MONOI-ANRS 136 trial. Body fat distribution and metabolic parameters were measured at baseline, week 48 and week 96. RESULTS: In total, 156 patients of the 225 initially enrolled in the MONOI trial participated in this study, 75 in the darunavir/r monotherapy arm and 81 in the darunavir/r triple-therapy arm. The median limb fat increase from baseline was +0.34 kg [interquartile range (IQR) -0.040 to +1.140 kg; P < 0.001] at week 48 and +0.33 kg (IQR -0.14 to +1.26 kg; P = 0.001) at week 96 in the monotherapy arm, while there was no change (-0.02 kg; IQR -0.53 to +0.52 kg) at week 48 and then an increase of +0.23 kg (IQR -0.45 to +0.87 kg; P = 0.046) at week 96 in the triple-therapy arm. The two arms differed significantly at week 48 (P = 0.001) but not at week 96. The median increase in trunk fat was +0.73 kg (IQR -0.24 to +1.60 kg; P < 0.001) and 0.60 kg (IQR -0.41 to +1.49 kg; P = 0.03) at week 48 and +1.16 kg (IQR -0.17 to +2.75 kg; P < 0.001) and +0.90 kg (IQR -0.51 to +2.34 kg; P = 0.001) at week 96 in the monotherapy and triple-therapy arms, respectively, with no difference between arms. At week 96, the only biological change was a glucose level elevation in the monotherapy arm (median +4.0 mg/dL; IQR -4.0 to +7.0 mg/dL) compared with the triple-therapy arm (P = 0.012). CONCLUSIONS: Overall, body fat tissue increased in patients on darunavir/r monotherapy and triple therapy, with no difference between the arms over 96 weeks. The only difference found was a delayed increase in limb fat tissue in the triple-therapy arm compared with the monotherapy arm in the first year.

Virologic and immunologic parameters that predict clinical response of AIDS-associated Kaposi's sarcoma to highly active antiretroviral therapy.

The purpose of the work was to assess the predictive value of biologic factors on the efficacy of highly active antiretroviral therapy alone or combined with chemotherapy on AIDS-associated Kaposi's sarcoma. Twenty-six AIDS-Kaposi's sarcoma patients who started therapy with protease inhibitors were investigated. No baseline chemotherapy was associated with less severe initial clinical status. Median follow-up was 652 d. The main outcome measures were as follows: best Kaposi's sarcoma clinical response; Kaposi's-sarcoma-associated herpesviral load in peripheral blood mononuclear cells using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (non-detectable if less than 100 copies per microg); human immunodeficiency viral charge in plasma (non-detectable if less than 200 copies per ml); and CD4 lymphocyte count. Time to undetectable Kaposi's-sarcoma-associated herpesviral load, time to undetectable human immunodeficiency viral charge, and time to CD4 >or= 150 per microl were also recorded over time, from 2 mo measurements. Patients were staged according to the AIDS Clinical Trials Group-based tumor, immune, systemic staging system criteria. At baseline, Kaposi's sarcoma was progressive for 25 (96%) of the 26 enrolled patients. Complete or partial response to highly active antiretroviral therapy alone or combined with chemotherapy was achieved in 22 patients (85%). Median time to clinical response was estimated at 251 d. Clinical response was faster in patients without chemotherapy at baseline (p = 0.003) as well as in patients not previously treated with reverse transcriptase inhibitors (p = 0.0012). Using univariable analyses, predictive factors of clinical response were undetectable Kaposi's-sarcoma-associated herpesviremia (p = 0.013), undetectable human immunodeficiency viremia (p = 0.03), and relative variation of CD4 lymphocytes (p = 0.004). Using multivariable analysis, undetectable Kaposi's-sarcoma-associated herpesviremia (p = 0.009) and relative variation of CD4 (p = 0.005) were independently selected as having a predictive value for clinical response. Occurrence of nondetection of either Kaposi's-sarcoma-associated herpesvirus or human immunodeficiency virus was not associated with baseline CD4 value. Kaposi's-sarcoma-associated herpesvirus quantitative viral charge is an independent predictive factor of the efficacy of highly active antiretroviral therapy on AIDS-Kaposi's sarcoma. Our results support immune reconstitution as a mechanism of response of Kaposi's sarcoma to highly active antiretroviral therapy.

Diagnosis of venous access port-related infections.

The accumulation of infected clots under the silicone septum of the reservoir of venous access ports (VAPs) has been reported. We analyzed the relationship between these deposits and the occurrence of VAP-related bloodstream infections (VAP-BSIs) by (1) evaluating the accuracy of paired quantitative blood cultures for diagnosing VAP-BSI before the removal of the device and (2) assessing the accuracy of cultures of the tip and septum (i.e., the internal lumen of the VAP) for diagnosing VAP-BSI after removal of the device. Over a 16-month period, all VAPs removed were prospectively investigated. Before VAP removal, paired quantitative blood cultures were 77% sensitive and 100% specific and had a positive predictive value of 100% and a negative predictive value of 98% for diagnosing VAP-BSI. After VAP removal, tip culture was only 46% sensitive, whereas septum culture was 93.3% sensitive for confirming the diagnosis of VAP-BSI. Thus infected deposits that accumulate under the VAP septum are the source of VAP-BSI.