Transmission of HIV Drug Resistance and the Predicted Effect on Current First-line Regimens in Europe.

BACKGROUND: Numerous studies have shown that baseline drug resistance patterns may influence the outcome of antiretroviral therapy. Therefore, guidelines recommend drug resistance testing to guide the choice of initial regimen. In addition to optimizing individual patient management, these baseline resistance data enable transmitted drug resistance (TDR) to be surveyed for public health purposes. The SPREAD program systematically collects data to gain insight into TDR occurring in Europe since 2001. METHODS: Demographic, clinical, and virological data from 4140 antiretroviral-naive human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected individuals from 26 countries who were newly diagnosed between 2008 and 2010 were analyzed. Evidence of TDR was defined using the WHO list for surveillance of drug resistance mutations. Prevalence of TDR was assessed over time by comparing the results to SPREAD data from 2002 to 2007. Baseline susceptibility to antiretroviral drugs was predicted using the Stanford HIVdb program version 7.0. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of TDR did not change significantly over time and was 8.3% (95% confidence interval, 7.2%-9.5%) in 2008-2010. The most frequent indicators of TDR were nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI) mutations (4.5%), followed by nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) mutations (2.9%) and protease inhibitor mutations (2.0%). Baseline mutations were most predictive of reduced susceptibility to initial NNRTI-based regimens: 4.5% and 6.5% of patient isolates were predicted to have resistance to regimens containing efavirenz or rilpivirine, respectively, independent of current NRTI backbones. CONCLUSIONS: Although TDR was highest for NRTIs, the impact of baseline drug resistance patterns on susceptibility was largest for NNRTIs. The prevalence of TDR assessed by epidemiological surveys does not clearly indicate to what degree susceptibility to different drug classes is affected.

Chemotherapy in patients with acquired immunodeficiency virus syndrome associated with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

We retrospectively analyzed our chemotherapy results in patients with the Acquired Immunodeficiency Virus syndrome (AIDS) and lymphoma over a 10 year period. Thirty out of 492 (6%) Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) positive patients developed a non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Thirteen patients with high-grade histology were treated with chemotherapy, 6 patients received CHOP (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisolone) and 7 patients received CEOP/IMVP-Dexa (cyclophosphamide, epirubicin, vincristine, prednisolone, ifosfamide, methotrexate, VP-16, and dexamethasone). The overall response rate was 77%, with no difference between the CHOP and CEOP/IMVP-Dexa regimens. There was no difference between the two treatment groups with respect to median overall survival (9 months for CHOP and 11.4 months for CEOP/IMVP-Dexa) or median lymphoma free survival (10.7 months for CHOP and not reached for CEOP/IMVP-Dexa). All patients treated with CEOP/IMVP-Dexa had WHO grade 3 or 4 infections, while only 2 of 6 patients treated with CHOP had WHO grade infections, and no grade 4 infection occurred (P < 0.01). Intensive regimens such as CEOP/IMVP-Dexa seem to be too toxic for patients with HIV-associated non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Raltegravir in pregnancy: a case series presentation.

Adequate antiretroviral therapy is essential for HIV-positive pregnant women to prevent mother-to-child transmission. We report a small case series of five women receiving raltegravir as part of their antiretroviral regimen during pregnancy.