(GLASGOW, 9 November 2010) — Results from a European Observational Study, which included 1,294 antiretroviral (ARV)-experienced patients presented today at the Tenth International Congress on Drug Therapy in HIV Infection (HIV10), demonstrated a l…
TMC114, a next-generation protease inhibitor, has demonstrated significant antiviral activity in multiple PI-experienced HIV patients currently failing PI therapy. In the 50 patient study, the median reduction in plasma viral load was -1.35 log10 copies/ml HIV-1 RNA after 14 days treatment with TMC114 boosted with low-dose ritonavir (TMC114/r); the maximum reduction was -2.49 log10. TMC114 is being developed by Tibotec, a Belgian pharmaceutical research and development company.
HIV patients who live in pain and use poor coping strategies to handle the stress of their illness also report that they have less energy and more limits on their physical, social and work activities, according to a new study. Patients who use self-distraction techniques or “give up trying to deal with” HIV-related stress feel less energetic, and those who use self-distraction or drugs or alcohol to cope say that their health limits their social activities, according to Mark Vosvick, Ph.D., of the University of North Texas and colleagues.
Social support may play a small but potentially important role in helping HIV-positive people adhere to the complicated schedules for taking their drug “cocktails” to control the virus that causes AIDS. A pilot study of primarily indigent black and Puerto Rican men and women at an HIV clinic in New York City suggested that individuals who had the social support they needed were more likely to take their medications. The pilot project was part of a larger study to assess the efficacy of peer support to enhance people’s adherence to their cocktail or Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy.
Researchers have developed a new gene therapy approach that prevents the AIDS virus from entering human cells. The technique offers a potential way to treat HIV patients and could apply to any disease caused by a gene malfunction, including cancer. The research team created a new application for a genetic technology called small interfering RNA (siRNA). The synthetically designed siRNAs act as a catalyst to reduce the expression of specific genes and slow the progression of disease.