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Query: UMLS:C0001175 (AIDS)
 120,706 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

AIDS patients are able to double their life expectancies after diagnosis. Drug treatment, an integral part in creating this improvement in life expectancy, consists of antiretroviral drugs, drugs that treat and prevent opportunistic diseases, and therapies that treat specific symptoms of AIDS, such as wasting or anemia. Five available drugs for treating HIV are AZT (Retrovir), ddI (Videx), ddC (Hivid), d4T (Zerit), and 3TC (lamivudine). Findings from studies for each drug in such areas as the drug's purpose, dosage level, effectiveness, and side effects are examined.
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PMID:What we know about anti-HIV drugs. 1136 92

Unimed Pharmaceuticals announced the beginning of a phase II trial to test the safety and efficacy of Androgel-DHT (dihydrotestosterone gel) for treating HIV wasting syndrome and low testosterone levels in AIDS patients. The gel delivers the hormone by being absorbed into the skin. The company has also notified the FDA that this product qualifies for orphan drug designation for treating weight loss in AIDS patients.
J Int Assoc Physicians AIDS Care 1996 May
PMID:Unimed Pharmaceuticals begins HIV wasting syndrome trial. 1136 35

Scientists have tried to inhibit or slow down the HIV virus ever since the virus was identified as the cause of AIDS. Although the efforts have not produced a long-term solution, significant progress has been made. There is a correlation between the increase in HIV levels and the advanced state of the disease. Antiviral therapies are discussed, including when to start the treatment, what drugs to use, and how to find out if the treatment is working. Some of the drugs seem to stop the replication of the HIV virus; however, they do not eradicate the virus. AZT (zidovudine/Retrovir), ddI (didadosine/Videx), ddC (zalcitabine/Hivid), d4T (stavudine/Zerit) and 3TC (lamivudine/Epivir) are some of the most common drugs on the market today. Information on research, side effects, doses, interactions with other drugs, and where to get these drugs is provided. Protease inhibitors, another type of drug, include saquinavir, ritonavir and indinavir (Crixivan). Much research has been done with these drugs, however, they are very difficult to produce. The combination of AZT and 3TC have shown positive results, and the future of antiviral therapies seems to be heading toward combination therapy.
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PMID:[ABC of the antivirals] Project Inform. 1136 92

Efavirenz is the lead compound of a series of benzoxazinones originally developed by DuPont Merck. It is a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) under development for the potential treatment of viral infections, including HIV. In June 1998, the company submitted an NDA to the US FDA for the use of efavirenz (as Sustiva) for the treatment of HIV infection [289361]. In July 1998, DuPont purchased Merck's interest in DuPont Merck and the company's name changed to DuPont Pharmaceuticals. The two companies decided to continue to share marketing rights to Sustiva (to be marketed by Merck as Stocrin outside the US, Canada, and certain European countries) [291738]. As of October 1997, triple combination studies of efavirenz were ongoing, or planned, with nelfinavir, indinavir or ritonavir, or other retroviral inhibitors, for the treatment of opportunistic and pediatric viral infections [265945]. Efavirenz is also being evaluated as monotherapy and in combination with zidovudine (Retrovir, AZT) and lamivudine (Epivir, 3TC) (qv). Results of a study in eight HIV-infected patients, reported at the 12th World AIDS Conference in July 1998, showed that efavirenz administration, in dual and triple combinations, achieved HIV-RNA levels in plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) below the level of detection (fewer than 400 copies/ml) [290881,293994]. In March 1998, Merck signed a letter of intent with Trimeris to conduct a trial of efavirenz in combination with Trimeris's HIV fusion inhibitor, T-20, (qv). The trial will enroll up to 48 HIV-infected individuals at three sites in the US. All enrolled patients will be those who have begun to fail their existing triple combination therapy. Prior exposure to NNRTIs and protease inhibitors, other than indinavir, will be among the exclusion criteria for the study. The first 10 days of the study were planned as a dose-optimization period to assess the safety, pharmacokinetics and antiviral activity of multiple ascending doses of T-20. After completion of this period, subjects will be eligible to participate in an extension period of at least six months, during which T-20 will be administered in combination with efavirenz and two protease inhibitors [281696]. A 137-patient phase III study showed that efavirenz, in combination with zidovudine and lamivudine, caused significant reduction in viral levels and increased CD4 cell levels. The results were presented at the Sixth European Conference on Clinical Aspects and Treatment of HIV Infection (Hamburg, Germany, October 1997) [265945]. At the Fourth Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, in January 1997, data were presented from a clinical trial of efavirenz in combination with indinavir, which showed that, in 82% of the patients, viral load was reduced to undetectable levels, as measured by the Amplicor assay [231410]. Further retrospective analysis showed that the viral load was a significant predictor of long-term (over 52 weeks) viral suppression [265945]. A double-blind, phase II pilot study of efavirenz showed significant activity in HIV-RNA suppression and CD4 cell recovery when evaluated for two weeks alone, and even better results when used in combination with indinavir (Crixivan, qv); 80% of patients achieved HIV-RNA below level of quantification and CD4 cell count elevation averaging 140 cells/mm3. The study evaluated 16 patients for 12 weeks and is ongoing [219671,227966]. A total of 21 patients received indinavir (800 mg, eight hourly) for two weeks, followed by combination therapy with efavirenz (200 mg, once daily). Another group of nine patients received indinavir alone for 26 weeks, followed by the addition of stavudine (Zerit) and efavirenz. In combination use, indinavir dosing was 1.0 g every eight hours. At 26 weeks, approximately 40% of the patients receiving indinavir alonehad plasma levels below 400 copies/ml of HIV-RNA. After stavudine and efavirenz were added, and following 16 weeks of the triple combination, 83% of the patients had plasma levels below 400 copies/ml [247754].
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PMID:Efavirenz DuPont Pharmaceuticals Co. 1846 25

The immunologic and virologic outcome of therapeutic DNA-vaccines administered during antiretroviral therapy (ART) using electroporation with or without (interleukin) IL-2 treatment was evaluated in the SIVmac239/macaque model. Rhesus macaques inoculated with pathogenic SIVmac239 were treated with ART [(R(-9-(2-phosphonomethoxypropyl) adenine) (PMPA), FTC, Zerit] from weeks 13 to 41 postinfection (wpi). Group 1 (n = 7) received ART only, groups 2 and 3 (each n = 6) additionally received SIVmac239-derived gp140Env, GagPol, and TatRevNef plasmids by in vivo electroporation at 22, 26, 30, and 34 wpi, and group 3 also IL-2 for 14 days after each vaccination. Endpoints evaluated were viral load, Gag(181189)-specific CD8+ T-cell responses in MamuA01+ animals, lymphoproliferative responses, and CD4 T-cell counts. Viremia in all animals dropped below 200 RNA copies/ml during ART. Frequencies of Gag(181189)-specific CD8+ T cells prior to ART were detectable in all three groups (1.27-3.01%) and increased significantly (p < 0.01) postvaccination with maximum responses after the fourth immunization (0.2% versus 3.49-7.15%). Gag(181189)-specific CD8+ T-cell frequencies increased post-ART cessation in all groups and remained at significantly higher levels (p < 0.001) until the end of the study (75 wpi) in both groups of vaccinated animals. Lymphoproliferative responses were detected against Gag in a limited number of animals after vaccination and post-ART. However, plasma RNA viral loads rebounded after ART termination to similar levels in all three groups, but remained below 10(5) copies/ml until the end of the study, which could be a late effect of the triple drug therapy.
AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses 2008 Aug
PMID:A therapeutic SIV DNA vaccine elicits T-cell immune responses, but no sustained control of viremia in SIVmac239-infected rhesus macaques. 1862 Apr 95