Pharmacokinetic evaluation of the interaction between hepatitis C virus protease inhibitor boceprevir and 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitors atorvastatin and pravastatin.

Boceprevir is a potent orally administered inhibitor of hepatitis C virus and a strong, reversible inhibitor of CYP3A4, the primary metabolic pathway for many 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitors. Thus, the aim of the present study was to investigate drug-drug interactions between atorvastatin or pravastatin and boceprevir. We conducted a single-center, open-label, fixed-sequence, one-way-crossover study with 20 healthy adult volunteers. Subjects received single-dose atorvastatin (40 mg) or pravastatin (40 mg) on day 1, followed by boceprevir (800 mg three times daily) for 7 to 10 days. Repeat single doses of atorvastatin or pravastatin were administered in the presence of steady-state boceprevir. Atorvastatin exposure increased in the presence of boceprevir, with atorvastatin area under the concentration-time curve from time zero to infinity after single dosing (AUC(inf)) increasing 2.3-fold (90% confidence interval [CI], 1.85, 2.90) and maximum observed concentration in plasma (Cmax) 2.7-fold (90% CI, 1.81, 3.90). Pravastatin exposure was slightly increased in the presence of boceprevir, with pravastatin AUC(inf) increasing 1.63-fold (90% CI, 1.03, 2.58) and C(max) 1.49-fold (90% CI, 1.03, 2.14). Boceprevir exposure was generally unchanged when the drug was coadministered with atorvastatin or pravastatin. All adverse events were mild and consistent with the known safety profile of boceprevir. The observed 130% increase in AUC of atorvastatin supports the use of the lowest possible effective dose of atorvastatin when coadministered with boceprevir, without exceeding a maximum daily dose of 40 mg. The observed 60% increase in pravastatin AUC with boceprevir coadministration supports the initiation of pravastatin treatment at the recommended dose when coadministered with boceprevir, with close clinical monitoring.

Desmopressin as a pharmacological tool in vasopressinergic hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis modulation: neuroendocrine, cardiovascular and coagulatory effects.

Arginine-vasopressin (AVP) is a physiological co-activator of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, together with corticotrophin releasing hormone (CRH). A synthetic analogue of AVP, desmopressin (dDAVP), is often used as a pharmacological tool to assess co-activation in health and disease. The relation between dDAVP's neuroendocrine, cardiovascular, pro-coagulatory, anti-diuretic and non-specific stress effects has not been studied. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, three-way crossover study was performed in 12 healthy male and female volunteers (6 : 6). dDAVP was administered intravenously as a 10 µg bolus (over 1 min) or a 30 µg incremental infusion (over 60 min). Neuroendocrine, cardiovascular, pro-coagulatory, anti-diuretic effects and adverse events (AEs) were recorded, and autonomic nervous system (ANS) activation evaluated. The incremental infusion reached 1.8-fold higher dDAVP concentrations than the bolus. Neuroendocrine effects were similar for the 10 µg dDAVP bolus and the 30 µg incremental infusion, while cardiovascular and coagulatory effects were greater with the 30 µg dose. Osmolality and ANS activity remained uninfluenced. AEs corresponded to dDAVP's side-effect profile. In conclusion, the neuroendocrine effects of a 10 µg dDAVP bolus administered over 1 min are similar to those of a 30 µg incremental infusion administered over one hour, despite higher dDAVP concentrations after the infusion. Cardiovascular and coagulatory effects showed clear dose-related responses. A 10 µg dDAVP bolus is considered a safe vasopressinergic function test at which no confounding effects of systemic or autonomic stress were seen.

A pharmacological tool to assess vasopressinergic co-activation of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis more integrally in healthy volunteers.

Pharmacological function tests consisting of 100 µg hCRH (corticorelin) and 10 µg dDAVP (desmopressin) mimic endogenous hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activation. However, physiological CRH concentrations preclude informative vasopressinergic co-activation (using dDAVP) and independent quantification of both corticotrophinergic (using hCRH) and vasopressinergic (using dDAVP) activation is limited due to administration on separate occasions. This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, partial five-way crossover study in healthy males and females (six : six) examined whether (1) concomitant administration of dDAVP and hCRH provides more informative vasopressinergic co-activation than dDAVP alone; and (2) whether the administration of dDAVP followed two hours later by hCRH can quantify both vasopressinergic and corticotrophinergic activation on a single test day. Combining 10 µg dDAVP with 10 µg and 30 µg hCRH caused dose-related ACTH and cortisol release which was larger than with 10 µg dDAVP alone and respectively comparable to and greater than that induced by 100 µg hCRH. Using 10 µg dDAVP alone demonstrated limited ACTH release while the effects of 100 µg hCRH two hours later were three times as large. ACTH and cortisol released by 10 µg dDAVP returned to baseline prior to 100 µg hCRH administration and dDAVP did not influence the response to subsequent hCRH administration. Dose-related vasopressinergic co-activation of the HPA axis was induced by combining 10 µg dDAVP with 10 µg and 30 µg hCRH. Combining 10 µg dDAVP with 10 µg hCRH induced the potentially most informative vasopressinergic co-activation since it is not restricted by ceiling or flooring effects. The hCRH response was not affected by prior dDAVP, allowing for a practical function test examining both HPA activation routes on the same day.

Metoclopramide as pharmacological tool to assess vasopressinergic co-activation of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis: a study in healthy volunteers.

The synthetic vasopressin (AVP) analogue desmopressin (dDAVP) has been used as pharmacological function test to quantify vasopressinergic co-activation of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in the past. Such exogenous vasopressinergic stimulation may induce confounding cardiovascular, pro-coagulatory and anti-diuretic effects and low endogenous corticotrophin-releasing-hormone (CRH) levels may limit its potential to reliably assess co-activation. Alternatively, the dopamine-2-(D2)-antagonist metoclopramide is believed to induce co-activation indirectly by releasing endogenous AVP. We investigated this indirect co-activation with metoclopramide under conditions of low and enhanced endogenous CRH release in healthy volunteers. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, four-way crossover study was performed in 12 healthy males. CRH release was induced by administering an oral 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) 200 mg function test. Co-activation was investigated by administering metoclopramide 10mg intravenously around the expected maximal effect of 5-HTP. The neuroendocrine effects were compared to those of metoclopramide alone, the 5-HTP test alone and matching placebo. Metoclopramide safely induced HPA-axis activation by itself, and potently synergized 5-HTP-induced corticotrophinergic activation of the HPA axis. These findings are indicative of vasopressinergic co-activation and suggest a role for metoclopramide as a practical function test for co-activation of the HPA axis. However, its application will be hampered pending clarification of the exact pharmacological mechanism by which metoclopramide induces co-activation of the HPA axis.

Towards an HIV-1 vaccine: lessons from studies in macaque models.

The development of a safe and effective vaccine for the prevention of AIDS has thus far proven to be extremely difficult, at least in part due to complexities associated with HIV-1 and its pathogenesis. The recent description of individuals transiently infected with HIV-1, as well as persons who survived HIV-1 infection for more than 15 years, indicates the ability of the immune response of certain individuals to control HIV-1 infection. Moreover, vaccination-challenge experiments in macaques infected with simian immunodeficiency virus have shown that protection against infection or development of disease may be achieved in the absence of sterilizing immunity, suggesting that the goals for AIDS vaccine development may have to be redefined. In addition, evaluation of new lentivirus vaccine strategies may largely benefit from the use of the newly developed chimeric simian-human immunodeficiency viruses, allowing the testing of HIV-1 antigen based vaccines in macaques.

Chemical inactivation of recombinant vaccinia viruses and the effects on antigenicity and immunogenicity of recombinant simian immunodeficiency virus envelope glycoproteins.

The efficiency of paraformaldehyde (PFA) and binary ethylenimine (BEI) in inactivating recombinant vaccinia virus (rVV), present in baby hamster kidney cells expressing simian immunodeficiency virus envelope glycoproteins (SIV-Env), was measured in a series of inactivation studies. Both compounds were shown to be effective in reducing rVV titres. The use of standard 3-day titration assays proved to be inadequate to measure PFA inactivation, since upon prolonged incubation, residual rVV infectivity was detected in cultures negative at 3 days. Different procedures using PFA or BEI were selected to assess their influence on the antigenicity and immunogenicity or rVV expressed SIV-Env. Antigenicity, as defined by the ability to react with a panel of monoclonal antibodies recognizing major antigenic sites, and immunogenicity, as defined by the ability to induce SIV envelope specific and virus neutralizing serum antibodies in rats, proved to be preserved after either inactivation procedure. These data show that both protocols using PFA or BEI can be used successfully as part of the procedures to remove residual rVV infectivity.

Post-translational processing of the feline immunodeficiency virus envelope precursor protein.

The synthesis and processing of the envelope glycoprotein precursor of the feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) isolate FIV-UT113 was investigated in a persistently infected Crandell feline kidney cell line (CRFK) and in an eukaryotic expression system. Pulse-chase studies showed two glycoproteins after a 5 min pulse-labeling: a gp150 and a gp130 species. During a 30-min chase the gp150 species disappeared almost completely while gp130 increased proportionally; it was subsequently processed into the surface glycoprotein (SU), gp100, and the transmembrane glycoprotein (TM), gp35. This final maturation step did also occur when the env gene was expressed independently, but at a much lower rate. The results indicate that FIV-UT113 envelope glycoprotein processing involves two successive proteolytic cleavages. The first cleavage removes a protein fragment of approximately 20 kDa and takes place post-translationally, at least in part. The deduced primary translation product of the env gene lacks an N-terminal signal sequence but instead contains two internal hydrophobic regions. Cleavage is predicted to occur behind the second region which would indeed release an N-terminal 20-kDa polypeptide. Thus, FIV glycoprotein processing resembles that found in the ungulate lentiviruses but differs from that in the primate lentiviruses, the envelope proteins of which possess a short N-terminal signal sequence.

Antigenicity and immunogenicity of recombinant envelope glycoproteins of SIVmac32H with different in vivo passage histories.

Shortly after infection of two rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) either with a SIVmac32H challenge stock or with the same virus that had been passaged in another rhesus monkey for 11 months, SIV-envelope genes were cloned from their peripheral blood mononuclear cells and subsequently expressed by recombinant vaccinia viruses. The molecular weights and antigenicities of the thus produced envelope glycoproteins were largely identical to those of the native SIV. The envelope glycoprotein derived from the in vivo passaged virus proved to be poorly recognized by virus neutralizing monoclonal antibodies directed against one of the seven antigenic sites for which monoclonal antibodies were available. Immunization studies in rats showed that this protein was also less efficient in inducing antibodies against this antigenic site, and that it induced significantly lower levels of virus neutralizing antibodies than the other SIV-envelope glycoprotein. The immunogenicity of the SIV-envelope glycoprotein incorporated into immune stimulating complexes (iscoms) was compared to that of the same protein presented with Quil A or MDP-tsl.

Simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)-specific CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocyte responses of naive and vaccinated cynomolgus macaques infected with SIVmac32H(J5): quantitative analysis by in vitro antigenic stimulation.

Detailed analyses of simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)-specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) responses in vaccinated and infected macaques may help to clarify the role of CTL immunity in protection against lentiviruses. Here, the optimal conditions for the measurement of SIV Gag-specific CTL were investigated by bulk and limiting dilution assays of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from naive and vaccinated cynomolgus macaques (Macaca fascicularis) infected with SIVmac32H(J5). In vitro restimulation was generally required for CTL detection. Selective activation of CD8+ and MHC-restricted SIV Gag-specific CTL was induced by stimulation with autologous para-formaldehyde-fixed B-lymphoblastoid cell lines infected with a recombinant vaccinia virus expressing SIV Gag. Applied to limiting dilution assays, antigenic stimulation reproducibly demonstrated SIV Gag-specific CTL precursors (CTLp) in PBMC of all animals studied, including those lacking significant responses in standard bulk CTL assays.

CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes of a cynomolgus macaque infected with simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) mac32H-J5 recognize a nine amino acid epitope in SIV Gag p26.

A detailed analysis of simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)-specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) responses and the identification of the proteins and epitopes they target may improve the design of immunotherapeutic interventions and provide insights into AIDS pathogenesis. Here, we identified a new CTL epitope in the SIV Gag protein, recognized by CD8+ and MHC class I-restricted CTL clones from a long-term asymptomatic cynomolgus macaque (Macaca fascicularis) infected with SIVmac32H-J5. Using overlapping synthetic peptides, the optimal minimal epitope was characterized as a nine amino acid peptide representing amino acids 242-250 of p26 (SVDEQIQWM). CTL recognition was shown to be abolished by amino acid substitutions observed within homologous human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 and HIV-2 sequences.

Protection of rhesus macaques from SIV infection by immunization with different experimental SIV vaccines.

The immunogenicity and efficacy of an inactivated whole SIVmac (32H) preparation adjuvanted with muramyl dipeptide (SIV-MDP) and a gp120-enriched SIVmac (32H) ISCOM preparation (SIV-ISCOM), were compared by immunizing four rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) four times with SIV-MDP and four others in the same way with SIV-ISCOM. Two monkeys immunized with whole inactivated measles virus (MV) adjuvanted with MDP (MV-MDP) and two monkeys immunized with MV-ISCOM served as controls. In the SIV-ISCOM-immunized monkeys higher SIV-specific serum antibody titres were found than in the SIV-MDP-immunized monkeys. In contrast to the MV-immunized monkeys all SIV-MDP- and SIV-ISCOM-immunized monkeys were protected against intravenous challenge 2 weeks after the last immunization with 10 median monkey infectious doses (MID50) of a cell-free SIVmac (32H) challenge stock propagated in the human T-cell line C8166. After 43 weeks the protected monkeys were reboosted and 2 weeks later rechallenged with 10 MID50 of the same virus produced in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from a rhesus macaque. None of these animals proved to be protected against this challenge. In a parallel experiment in which the same numbers of monkeys were immunized in the same way, the animals were challenged intravenously with 10 MID50 of PBMC from an SIVmac (32H)-infected rhesus macaque. Two out of four SIV-MDP- and two out of four SIV-ISCOM-immunized monkeys proved to be protected from SIV infection.

Vaccine-induced virus-neutralizing antibodies and cytotoxic T cells do not protect macaques from experimental infection with simian immunodeficiency virus SIVmac32H (J5).

To gain further insight into the ability of subunit vaccines to protect monkeys from experimental infection with simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), two groups of cynomolgus macaques were immunized with either recombinant SIVmac32H-derived envelope glycoproteins (Env) incorporated into immune-stimulating complexes (iscoms) (group A) or with these SIV Env iscoms in combination with p27gag iscoms and three Nef lipopeptides (group B). Four monkeys immunized with recombinant feline immunodeficiency virus Env iscoms served as controls (group C). Animals were immunized intramuscularly at weeks 0, 4, 10, and 16. Two weeks after the last immunization, monkeys were challenged intravenously with 50 monkey 50% infectious doses of virus derived from the J5 molecular clone of SIVmac32H propagated in monkey peripheral blood mononuclear cells. High titers of SIV-neutralizing antibodies were induced in the monkeys of groups A and B. In addition, p27gag-specific antibodies were detected in the monkeys of group B. Vaccine-induced cytotoxic-T-lymphocyte precursors against Env, Gag, and Nef were detected on the day of challenge in the monkeys of group B. Env-specific cytotoxic-T-lymphocyte precursors were detected in one monkey from group A. In spite of the observed antibody and T-cell responses, none of the monkeys was protected from experimental infection. In addition, longitudinal determination of cell-associated virus loads at weeks 2, 4, 6, 9, and 12 postchallenge revealed no significant differences between vaccinated and control monkeys. These findings illustrate the need to clarify the roles of the different arms of the immune system in conferring protection against primate lentivirus infections.

Decline of simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes in the peripheral blood of long-term nonprogressing macaques infected with SIVmac32H-J5.

The evolution of simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)-specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte precursors (CTLps) and their relationship with virus replication were studied in SIV-infected macaques. After primary viremia, 3 of 8 macaques lost culturable virus and polymerase chain reaction-detectable provirus in peripheral blood. Although proviral DNA persisted in the spleen and lymph nodes, virus loads were below or barely above detection levels. Throughout the study, the 3 macaques remained asymptomatic, with stable CD4+ cell counts. These findings were associated with the detection of CTLps directed against both structural and regulatory SIV proteins. The response peaked during the first 7 months of infection but waned subsequently. CTLps increased after rechallenge of 1 macaque, suggesting that limited antigenic stimulation contributed to their disappearance from circulation. Transient viremia with increasing CTLp frequencies and antibody titers also suggested at least partial susceptibility to reinfection. These findings bear implications for vaccination strategies aimed at inducing protective CTLs against lentiviruses.