Analysis of the costs associated with the follow-up of HIV patients discontinuing antiretroviral treatment due to lack of effectiveness or unacceptable toxicity in Spain.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the use of resources and the costs associated with  following up patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus after  discontinuation of an antiretroviral treatment and initiation of a new one due to  a lack of effectiveness or unacceptable toxicity, as compared to the costs  involved in the routine follow-up of patients on antiretroviral treatment, from  the Spanish National Health System perspective. Method: The use of resources (clinical tests, medical visits, and hospital pharmacy visits) associated with following three profiles of patients  infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (stable ones, those  discontinuing an existing antiretroviral treatment and being switched to a new  one due to a lack of effectiveness, and those discontinuing an existing antiretroviral treatment and being switched to a new one due to  unacceptable toxicity) was identified, based on clinical practice guidelines and  the findings of a multidisciplinary expert panel (n = 5). The experts agreed on  the main adverse events leading to discontinuation, classifying them into  gastrointestinal, renal, osseous, musculoskeletal, dermatological, hepatic, lipid  profile-related, neuropsychiatric and sexual alterations. Unit costs were  identified from official healthcare costs databases. The cost  (€, 2020) of  following up each patient profile was estimated, excluding the cost of the  antiretroviral treatment itself, with a time horizon of two years. RESULTS: The per-patient cost of following up stable patients over two years  was estimated at €4,148 (tests: €2,293; visits: €1,855). Patient follow-up after  discontinuation of an existing antiretroviral treatment and initiation of a  different one due to a lack of effectiveness was estimated at €5,434 (tests:  €2,777; visits: €2,657). The cost of follow-up after discontinuation of an  existing regimen and initiation of a new one due to unacceptable toxicity varied  according to the adverse event prompting the switch, ranging from  €4,690 for lipid profile dysregulation, to €5,304, for musculoskeletal  alterations. In this patient profile, the cost of tests ranged from €2,403 to  €3,017, and that of visits from €2,287 to €2,842. CONCLUSIONS: The cost associated with following up of patients infected with  the human immunodeficiency virus after discontinuation of an existing  antiretroviral regimen and initiation of a new one is higher than that of routine  follow-up, without taking the cost of drugs into account. The treatment  discontinuation rate is a relevant factor when selecting the most appropriate  therapy for each patient.

OBJETIVO: Estimar el uso de recursos y costes asociados al seguimiento de  pacientes con infección por el virus de la inmunodeficiencia humana tras  discontinuación del tratamiento antirretroviral actual debido a falta de  efectividad o toxicidad inaceptable y cambio a un nuevo tratamiento antirretroviral, comparado con el seguimiento habitual de los  pacientes con tratamiento antirretroviral, desde la perspectiva del Sistema  Nacional de Salud español.Método: Se identificó el uso de recursos (pruebas clínicas, visitas médicas,  visitas a la farmacia hospitalaria) asociado al seguimiento de pacientes con  infección por el virus de la inmunodeficiencia humana en tres perfiles de  pacientes (estable, discontinuación y cambio por falta de efectividad,  discontinuación y cambio por toxicidad inaceptable), a partir de las guías de  práctica clínica y un panel de expertos multidisciplinar (n = 5). Los expertos  consensuaron los principales eventos adversos que conducían a la  discontinuación, agrupándolos en: alteraciones gastrointestinales, renales,  óseas, musculoesqueléticas, dermatológicas, hepáticas y del perfil lipídico,  trastornos neuropsiquiátricos y sexuales. Los costes unitarios se identificaron a  partir de bases de datos oficiales  assode costes sanitarios y de la literatura.  Se estimó el coste (€, 2020) del seguimiento en cada perfil de paciente, sin  incluir el coste derivado del tratamiento antirretroviral, en un horizonte  temporal de dos años. RESULTADOS: El coste por paciente a dos años se estimó en 4.148 € (pruebas:  2.293 €; visitas: 1.855 €) para el seguimiento del paciente estable. El  seguimiento del paciente tras discontinuación por falta de efectividad y cambio  de tratamiento antirretroviral se estimó en 5.434 € (pruebas: 2.777 €; visitas:  2.657 €). El coste del seguimiento tras la discontinuación por toxicidad  inaceptable y cambio de tratamiento antirretroviral varió en función del evento  adverso que motivó el cambio, oscilando entre 4.690 € para las alteraciones  del perfil lipídico, y 5.304 € para las alteraciones musculoesqueléticas. En este  perfil de pacientes, las pruebas variaron entre 2.403 € y 3.017 € y las visitas  entre 2.287 € y 2.842 €. CONCLUSIONES: El coste asociado al seguimiento del paciente con infección por  el virus de la inmunodeficiencia humana tras discontinuación y cambio a un  nuevo tratamiento antirretroviral es mayor comparado con el seguimiento  habitual, sin tener en cuenta el coste farmacológico. La tasa de discontinuación  del tratamiento antirretroviral es un factor relevante a la hora  de seleccionar la terapia más adecuada para cada paciente.

Similar plasma lipidomic profile in people living with HIV treated with a darunavir-based or an integrase inhibitor-based antiretroviral therapy.

Cardiovascular disease is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in people living with HIV (PLWH), who commonly experience lipid disturbances. The aim of this study was to determine whether the plasma lipidomic profile differs between PLWH receiving a darunavir-based ART and those receiving integrase inhibitor-based ART. This was a cross-sectional study of unselected patients for whom metabolomic analysis was performed using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. Data for the two subgroups were compared by calculating the log2 of the fold change for each metabolite and then grouping these into the main lipid families. Sixty-two PLWH aged 49.3 ± 8.6 years (82% men) were included: 12 patients (19.4%) had hypertension, 8 (12.9%) had type 2 diabetes, 25 (41.0%) had dyslipidaemia and 9 (14.5%) were taking statins, without significant differences in all these variables between the two groups. Twenty-five (40.3%) received darunavir-based ART and 37 (59.7%) integrase inhibitor-based ART. Although the differences were not statistically significant, patients treated with darunavir-based ART had higher concentrations of total cholesterol (211 mg/dL vs 194 mg/dL), LDL-cholesterol (132 mg/dL vs 117 mg/dL) and triglycerides (155 mg/dL vs 122 mg/dL), and lower HDL-cholesterol concentration (50 mg/dL vs 52 mg/dL). The main lipid families and metabolites differed slightly between groups (log2-fold change; P-value): ceramides (-0.07; 0.49), phosphatidylinositols (-0.05; 0.63), diacylglycerols (0.10; 0.64), phosphatidylethanolamines (0.03; 0.78), triacylglycerols (0.27; 0.18) and lysophosphatidylethanolamines (0.03; 0.83). In the integrase inhibitor-based group, the use of tenofovir alafenamide fumarate significantly increases the majority of lipid fractions, when compared with tenofovir disoproxil fumarate. The lipidomic profile did not differ between PLWH treated with darunavir-based or integrase inhibitor-based ART. This was especially true for ceramides, which are involved in cardiovascular disease. Further studies are needed to study the impact of ART in lipidomic profile.

DBP rs16846876 and rs12512631 polymorphisms are associated with progression to AIDS naïve HIV-infected patients: a retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: Most of the circulating Vitamin D (VitD) is transported bound to vitamin D-binding protein (DBP), and several DBP single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have been related to circulating VitD concentration and disease. In this study, we evaluated the association among DBP SNPs and AIDS progression in antiretroviral treatment (ART)-naïve-HIV-infected patients. METHODS: We performed a retrospective study in 667 patients who were classified according to their pattern of AIDS progression (183 long-term non-progressors (LTNPs), 334 moderate progressors (MPs), and 150 rapid progressors (RPs)) and 113 healthy blood donors (HIV, HCV, and HBV negative subjects). We genotyped seven DBP SNPs (rs16846876, rs12512631, rs2070741, rs2282679, rs7041, rs1155563, rs2298849) using Agena Bioscience's MassARRAY platform. The genetic association was evaluated by Generalized Linear Models adjusted by age at the moment of HIV diagnosis, gender, risk group, and VDR rs2228570 SNP. Multiple testing correction was performed by the false discovery rate (Benjamini and Hochberg procedure; q-value). RESULTS: All SNPs were in HWE (p > 0.05) and had similar genotypic frequencies for DBP SNPs in healthy-controls and HIV-infected patients. In unadjusted GLMs, we only found significant association with AIDS progression in rs16846876 and rs12512631 SNPs. In adjusted GLMs, DBP rs16846876 SNP showed significant association under the recessive inheritance model [LTNPs vs. RPs (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 3.53; q-value = 0.044) and LTNPs vs. MPs (aOR = 3.28; q-value = 0.030)] and codominant [LTNPs vs. RPs (aOR = 4.92; q-value = 0.030) and LTNPs vs. MPs (aOR = 3.15; q-value = 0.030)]. Also, we found DBP rs12512631 SNP showed significant association in the inheritance model dominant [LTNPs vs. RPs (aOR = 0.49; q-value = 0.031) and LTNPs vs. MPs (aOR = 0.6; q-value = 0.047)], additive [LTNPs vs. RPs (aOR = 0.61; q-value = 0.031)], overdominant [LTNPs vs. MPs (aOR = 0.55; q-value = 0.032)], and codominant [LTNPs vs. RPs (aOR = 0.52; q-value = 0.036) and LTNPs vs. MPs (aOR = 0.55; q-value = 0.032)]. Additionally, we found a significant association between DBP haplotypes (composed by rs16846876 and rs12512631) and AIDS progression (LTNPs vs RPs): DBP haplotype AC (aOR = 0.63; q-value = 0.028) and the DBP haplotype TT (aOR = 1.64; q-value = 0.028). CONCLUSIONS: DBP rs16846876 and rs12512631 SNPs are related to the patterns of clinical AIDS progression (LTNP, MP, and RP) in ART-naïve HIV-infected patients. Our findings provide new knowledge about AIDS progression that may be relevant to understanding the pathogenesis of HIV infection.

Liver-related events and mortality among elderly patients with advanced chronic hepatitis C treated with direct-acting antivirals.

BACKGROUND: Direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) are effective in patients aged ≥65 years. However, little is known about the effects of DAAs on survival, liver decompensation and development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). OBJECTIVE: To compare the incidence of liver-related events and mortality between patients aged ≥65 and <65 years. METHODS: Prospective study comparing patients aged ≥65 and <65 years treated with DAAs. The incidence of liver-related events and mortality, and HCC was compared between age groups. RESULTS: Five hundred patients (120 aged ≥65 and 380 aged <65 years) were included. The incidence of liver-related events was 2.62 per 100 patient-years (py) in older and 1.41/100 py in younger patients. All-cause mortality was 3.89 and 1.27/100 py in older and younger patients, respectively. The respective liver-related mortality rates were 1.12 and 0.31/100 py. In patients with cirrhosis (stage F4), all-cause mortality (P = 0.283) and liver-related mortality (P = 0.254) did not differ between groups. All five liver-related deaths were related to multifocal HCC. The incidence of HCC was 1.91 and 1.43 per 100 py in the older and younger groups, respectively (P = 0.747). The diagnosis of HCC was 8 months after the end of treatment. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of liver-related events and liver-related mortality was low in older people treated with DAAs and was similar to that in younger patients. The extra mortality in people aged ≥65 years treated with DAAs seems to be secondary to non-liver-related causes. These results support the utilization of DAAs in patients aged ≥65 years.

[Malignancies in HIV-infected patients: descriptive study of 129 cases between 1993 and 2010]. / Neoplasias en pacientes con infección por VIH: Estudio descriptivo de 129 casos en el período 1993-2010.

INTRODUCTION: The development of malignancies is a problem associated with HIV infection. The incidence and spectrum of malignancies has been modified with the addition of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). AIM: To describe the clinical and epidemiological characteristics and prognosis of HIV patients who have developed a malignancy. METHODS: Retrospective observational study was conducted in HIV + patients who developed a malignancy between 1993-2010 in a referral hospital. AIDS-defining malignancies (ADN) and non-AIDS-defining malignancies (NADN) were compared. RESULTS: 125 patients were identified with at least one malignancy. The most frequent malignancies were: non-Hodgkin lymphoma (n; 39; 30.2%), Kaposi's sarcoma (n: 20; 15.5%), Hodgkin's disease (n: 11; 8.8%), lung cancer (n: 20; 15.5%) and hepatocellular carcinoma (n: 9; 6.9 %). The mean age was 42 ± 11 years, 84% male, 55.8% were coinfected with HBV and or HCV. The risk behaviors were: 45.6% intravenous drug users, 16.8% men who have sex with men and 20% heterosexuals). There were 67 (52%) NADN and 62 (48%) ADN; NADN patients had a longer story of HIV infection and longer exposure to HAART, better level of immunodeficiency and better virological control than ADN patients. Four patients developed a second malignancy. Overall survival was 34.7%. CONCLUSIONS: We found an increased incidence of NADN, appearing in patients with better virological and immunological control than ADN group. Mortality of patients with HIV infection and malignancy is still very high.

Neoplasias en pacientes con infección por VIH: Estudio descriptivo de 129 casos en el período 1993-2010 / Malignancies in HIV-infected patients: Descriptive study of 129 cases between 1993 and 2010

Introduction: The development of malignancies is a problem associated with HIV infection. The incidence and spectrum of malignancies has been modified with the addition of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Aim: To describe the clinical and epidemiological characteristics and prognosis of HIV patients who have developed a malignancy. Methods: Retrospective observational study was conducted in HIV + patients who developed a malignancy between 1993-2010 in a referral hospital. AIDS-defining malignancies (ADN) and non-AIDS-defining malignancies (NADN) were compared. Results: 125 patients were identified with at least one malignancy. The most frequent malignancies were: non-Hodgkin lymphoma (n; 39; 30.2%), Kaposi's sarcoma (n: 20; 15.5%), Hodgkin's disease (n: 11; 8.8%), lung cancer (n: 20; 15.5%) and hepatocellular carcinoma (n: 9; 6.9 %). The mean age was 42 ± 11 years, 84% male, 55.8% were coinfected with HBV and or HCV. The risk behaviors were: 45.6% intravenous drug users, 16.8% men who have sex with men and 20% heterosexuals). There were 67 (52%) NADN and 62 (48%) ADN; NADN patients had a longer story of HIV infection and longer exposure to HAART, better level of immunodeficiency and better virological control than ADN patients. Four patients developed a second malignancy. Overall survival was 34.7%. Conclusions: We found an increased incidence of NADN, appearing in patients with better virological and immunological control than ADN group. Mortality of patients with HIV infection and malignancy is still very high.

Introducción: Uno de los problemas asociados a la infección por VIH es el desarrollo de neoplasias. La incidencia y espectro de los distintos cánceres se ha visto modificada con la incorporación del tratamiento anti-retroviral de gran actividad (TARGA). El objetivo del presente estudio es describir las características clínicas y epidemiológicas y el pronóstico de pacientes infectados con VIH que han desarrollado una neoplasia. Material y Métodos: Estudio observacional retrospectivo de una cohorte de pacientes con infección por VIH que desarrollaron algún cáncer en el periodo comprendido entre 1993-2010 en un hospital de referencia. Se compararon las variables entre los casos de neoplasias definitorias de SIDA (NDS) y no definitorios de SIDA (NNDS). Resultados: Se identificaron 125 pacientes con al menos una neoplasia. Los cánceres más frecuentes fueron: linfoma no Hodgkin (n: 39; 30,2%), sarcoma de Kaposi (n: 20; 15,5%), enfermedad de Hodgkin (n: 11; 8,8%), neoplasia pulmón (n: 20; 16%) y hepatocarcinoma (n: 9; 6,9 %). La edad media fue 42 ± 11 años, 84% varones, 55,8% estaban co-infectados por VHB y/o VHC. Las conductas de riesgo fueron: 45,6% usuarios de drogas vía parenteral, 16,8% hombres con relaciones sexuales con hombres y 20% heterosexuales. Se encontraron 67 NNDS (52%) y 62 (48%) NDS; los pacientes con NNDS presentaron mayor tiempo de evolución de la infección por VIH y de exposición a TARGA, mayor recuento de CD4 y mejor control virológico que los del grupo de NDS. Desarrollaron un segundo tumor cuatro pacientes. La supervivencia global fue de 34,7%. Conclusiones: Se constata un aumento en la incidencia de NNDS, que se presentan en pacientes con mejor control virológico e in-munológico que los NDS. La mortalidad de los pacientes con infección por VIH y enfermedad tumoral continúa siendo muy elevada.

Total HCV core antigen assay. A new marker of HCV viremia and its application during treatment of chronic hepatitis C.

The present study assesses the clinical usefulness of the hepatitis C core antigen assay for monitoring of patients being treated for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Eighty-six serum samples were selected at random from 16 patients and levels of HCV RNA and HCV core antigen were determined simultaneously and in parallel to compare both techniques. The data obtained were compared by Pearson's correlation and the coefficients calculated by Fisher transformation and by calculating the difference and standard error. A good linear correlation was observed between both techniques. Maximum correlation, with significant difference, was found between patients infected with the 1a genotype and other genotypes. In conclusion, the HCV core antigen assay is useful for the diagnosis of early infection; however, its use for determining the exact timing of viral elimination during treatment is clearly unsuitable.

Synthesis and cytotoxicity of podophyllotoxin analogues modified in the A ring.

Several podophyllotoxin derivatives lacking the methylenedioxy group or with different functionalization of the A-ring of the cyclolignan skeleton have been prepared and evaluated for their cytotoxic activities on four neoplastic cell lines (P-388, A-549, HT-29 and MEL-28). Most of them maintained their cytotoxicity at the microM level.

Resistance mutations in HIV-infected patients experiencing early failure with nelfinavir-containing triple combinations.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of our study was to assess the presence of nelfinavir (NFV)-associated resistance mutations at the time of early virological failure in subjects receiving NFV as part of a first protease inhibitor (PI)-based triple regimen. MATERIAL/METHODS: Subjects failing their first PI-based NFV-containing triple regimen were identified in six Spanish hospitals. HIV genotyping was carried out in plasma samples collected at the time of the first viral rebound. RESULTS: Upon initiation of NFV-based therapy, 19 of the 30 subjects (63%) were naïve; 11 (37%) had been exposed to nucleoside analogues. Median HIV-RNA at the time of viral rebound was 4, 180 copies/ml. PCR-amplified products were obtained in 22 subjects (73%). These products were sequenced and primary PI resistance mutations were recognized in 6 patients (27%). All six individuals harbored the D30N mutation, and none presented the L90M mutation. Other PI resistance mutations were present in 5 subjects (at codons 36, 63, 71, 77, 82 and/or 88). Secondary PI resistance mutations were present in another 9 subjects. By contrast, mutations conferring resistance to reverse transcriptase inhibitors were present in 50% of the patients, and the M184V substitution was the most frequently seen. CONCLUSIONS: Nearly 75% of patients failing their first PI-based triple regimen containing NFV do not harbor PI resistance mutations. The D30N substitution, rather than L90M, is the most frequently recognized, which does not challenge the efficacy of further rescue interventions with other PIs. This observation supports the use of nelfinavir as first protease inhibitor.