HIV Research
How HIV Affects the Brain
9 years ago
HIV infection is known to cause several side effects as it invades the body. Because of advances in medicine, along with our overall understanding of what HIV is and how the virus works inside the human body, we have been able to prolong the side effects that was so disastrously prevalent in the 1980s and 1990s: death due to a completely compromised immune system. As we are now able to keep the virus essentially ineffective, even though we are still not able to eradicate it from the body, infected individuals are now able to live much longer than before, and many die of other natural causes before they develop AIDS from their HIV infection. With people now living longer than they were able to before, researchers have noticed slow-showing side effects that an elongated HIV infection can cause. One of the more feared, as well as least understood, side effects of HIV is its negative effects on a person’s mental abilities. To learn how HIV affects the brain, researchers out of Washington University in St. Louis have looked at one of the two leading theories on the subject.
The two leading theories on how HIV affects the brain are: 1) the early immune system’s responses to the infection which triggers a series of effects that slowly impair memory and mental function; 2) how the disease and co-infections commonly seen with HIV affect the brain independently of the HIV infection. The research team decided to focus on the co-infection theory, as they saw ways to judge whether these infections were indeed affecting the brain instead of HIV itself. Through statistical elimination, they determined the only co-infection which is common enough to affect so many HIV-infected individuals is hepatitis C. So, they looked at the effects of hepatitis C and the possibilities it has in affecting a brain when it is co-infected along with HIV. Knowing that this virus predominately attacks the liver led researcher David Clifford, MD, to rule out this theory, because he believes hepatitis C does not affect the brain in any directly negative manner. The study included almost 1,600 HIV infected individuals who roughly 400 were co-infected with hepatitis C. These patients were given two exams – one written and one physical – to determine any differences they may have in their cognitive and mental abilities. The exams looked at how the patients expressed themselves, made decisions, learned and retained new information, and controlled their body. The results were that there was no distinction between those co-infected with hepatitis C and those who were only infected with HIV. This lack of distinction was made even more impressive, according to Clifford, because those who were co-infected with hepatitis C were almost all older, had less of an education, and generally had lower reading and math scores than the others. They now feel the leading theory – that the immune system’s initial reactions of inflammation of the bowels and brain – is the correct one, and are working to prove this.
Target Found in HIV Cells
9 years ago
by ADMIN
in HIV Research
Target Found in HIV Cells: New and Promising Results
HIV treatment is something researchers and scientists are continually pursuing. This is because, as the HIV cells mutate and become resistant to some medications, new medications need to be developed and varied types of treatment need to be utilized. In this pursuit, researchers have identified a new target for eliminating HIV replication and preventing the spread of the HIV cells in the body. This promising target found in HIV cells deals with the ‘activation’ period HIV has after a dormant phase. The virus cells can lay dormant for months, even several years, before it suddenly ‘awakens.’ HIV then begins its erratic replication process, destroying the body’s immune system in the process.
Scientists believed for many years that this activation process – the awakening of the HIV cells in the body – is caused by two components, the protein that HIV produces, called Tat, and the CycT1 protein. Indeed, they thought CycT1 protein was the only activation protein which caused Tat to activate the HIV cell and start the replication process. The most recent discovery is of a new protein – Ssu72 phosphatase – which seems to also be intimately connected to this activation process.
After this discovery, and subsequent studies to identify that this protein is indeed involved in the activation process of HIV cells, several new treatments are now thought to be possible. The first protein involved in causing Tat to start the HIV replication process – CycT1 – is used by the body for normal activity. Therefore, it cannot be a target of anti-HIV drugs (without disrupting the normal bodily activities it is involved in). Ssu72, however, is not used in normal body processes and can be targeted by anti-HIV drugs. This target found in HIV cells is now being studied as a means to eliminate or disable this protein—long before it starts the Tat’s process of HIV cell replication.
HIV Infected Individuals and Age Related Diseases
9 years ago
by ADMIN
in HIV Research
HIV Infected Individuals and Age Related Diseases: Appear at Similar Age as in Uninfected Adults
Heart attacks, cancer, and kidney failure among HIV-infected individuals has been thoroughly researched and the data shows that infected individuals are more likely to develop one of these diseases than people who are not HIV positive. This research began to be compiled in the mid-1990s, when those infected with HIV were starting to live longer thanks to new antiretroviral medications. Before these drugs were created, contracting HIV was almost certainly a death sentence. When HIV/AIDs first came onto the scene, the HIV cells would eradicate the immune system, the person would develop AIDS, and common diseases like the cold or influenza would ravage the body and kill the host. In the years since, however, antiretroviral drugs have been developed and continually improved upon, and HIV has become a manageable disease. In fact, many HIV-positive individuals have been able to live out their lives with the infection and, in the U.S. and other developed countries, are now dying of non-HIV related circumstances. With the numbers of older HIV-positive individuals growing, the amount of research on those in this group has increased. The latest studies now suggest that among HIV infected individuals, age-related diseases appear at similar ages, as compared with uninfected individuals.
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health used data from almost 100,000 individuals, both infected and uninfected, who suffered from age-related diseases between 2003 and 2010. The results confirmed that those who are HIV-infected tend to develop heart attacks, cancer, and kidney failure much more commonly than in uninfected adults. However, it also showed that the ages of those developing heart attacks and cancer were the same in both infected and uninfected patients. Moreover, kidney failure seemed to only have a six-month gap between infected patients and patients who were not HIV positive. This news, that among HIV infected individuals age-related diseases appear at similar ages regardless of HIV status, shows that the timeline of getting checked for these diseases does not have to be significantly altered. However, the importance of checkups is still much greater for HIV-infected adults.
Alternative HIV Regimens
9 years ago
by ADMIN
in HIV Research
Alternative HIV Regimens: For Those Unable to Use Efavirenz
The most commonly prescribed HIV therapies includes efavirenz, which is one of the key ingredients in stopping the spread of HIV cells through the body and keeping the immune system functioning and optimal. Efavirenz is never prescribed alone, however in combination with other anti-HIV drugs it has proven to have the greatest overall results in keeping the HIV viral load down and the immune response minimal. Unfortunately, the side effects can prevent some people from taking efavirenz. The adverse effects can include insomnia, nightmares, confusion, memory loss, headaches and depression. Along with these psychiatric disorders, efavirenz has also been known to cause birth defects in children whose mothers used the drug. Because of these consequences, it is highly recommended that anybody who suffers from certain psychiatric conditions, or any woman who believes they are pregnant, or are trying to pregnant, should not take efavirenz. Luckily, for patients who are HIV positive and unable to take efavirenz, there are alternative HIV regimens found to be effective in keeping the virus under control and unable to attack the immune system.
Researchers at the AIDS Clinic Trials Group (ACTG), have conducted a Phase III, randomized study of regimens which do not use efavirenz. They studied three different therapies given to over 1,800 HIV positive adults. The results were uniformly positive. The in-depth study closely followed the participants for 96 weeks. At the end of the study, it was ascertained that all three regimens were effective in keeping the viral loads down and keeping the immune systems healthy. There were variations in how easily patients were able to withstand any negative effects of the drugs while still gaining all of the positive effects. One regimen was clearly superior in this category – the raltegravir-based therapy – but all three were reasonable for lifelong medical regimens. These alternative HIV regimens that are effective in patients not eligible for efavirenz has provided another outlet of hope for first line defense against HIV infection.
HIV Infected Stimulant Users
10 years ago
by ADMIN
in HIV Research
HIV Infected Stimulant Users: Treatment Benefits
Some studies in the mid 90’s pointed to evidence that stimulants – such as cocaine or methamphetamine – were causing the antiretroviral therapy to be less effective against HIV. For example, HIV infected stimulant users were developing AIDS more frequently than non-using infected. The most recent studies, however, have shown that this evidence was misleading, and that antiretroviral medication does indeed have the same effects on stimulant users and non-users. The evidence was not taking into account the difficulty many stimulant users, especially those who abused these kinds of drugs, have had to obtain their needed medication. Much of this stemmed from a belief that users of these kinds of drugs would also abuse the antiretroviral medication, or would not take the medication properly.
The new data, collected between 1996 and 2012, shows that stimulant users frequently take their medication at the proper intervals, even when they are unable to lessen or stop their respective stimulant substance. This proved that not only do these infected take their medication as directed, the effects of the medication are nearly identical to non-using infected patients. The concern that still lingers concerning HIV infected stimulant users, however, is the spread of the disease due to their drug-related activities. The latest study, out of the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (an ongoing study of HIV infected men who have sex with men), has concluded that the biggest focus researchers should now have when dealing with HIV infected stimulant users is education and prevention. One thing the study noticed is that stimulant users are more likely to be open and forthright with their physician—if that doctor is a specialist in HIV and infectious diseases (as opposed to a general physician or one who specializes in drug use and abuse). Even when the patients are not ready to go to a group or doctor for help with their drug habits, they are ready to work with an HIV specialist to ensure their life with HIV is as healthy as possible.
