January 2002

Contents

Conference reports

• 41st Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC), Chicago, 16-19 December 2001

• Low dose pegylated interferon is ineffective in treating HIV/HCV co-infected patients

• Phenotypic resistance to ddI is less frequent than resistance to ZDV, 3TC and abacavir

• Impact of Kaletra on amprenavir plasma concentrations in HIV treatment-experienced patients

• Immune reconstitution more difficult with low baseline CD4+ T cell counts

• HIV-1 may revert to less pathogenic strain a few days after starting HAART

• Change from CCR5 to CXCR4 phenotype may affect immunologic responses

• ddI EC (Videx) study confirms and clarifies dosing on an empty stomach

• Swatch study: should we be cycling drugs?

• New HIV drugs, resistance, pharmacogenomics

• Antiretroviral therapy

• Immunopathogenesis of HIV infection

Antiretrovirals

• Impaired response to HAART found in HIV-positive individuals with high autonomic nervous system activity

• Anti-HIV effects of the malarial drug chloroquine

• Treatment guidelines should place more emphasis on CD4+ counts than on viral loads

Paediatric care

• Birth defects linked to use of certain drugs during pregnancy

• Immune reconstitution in children treated with HAART is independent of age and pre-treatment immune status

Side effects

• Doubt over use of antioxidant vitamins for the prevention of coronary disease

• Endocrine disorders complicate ARV treatment

Coinfections and complications

• The incidence of non-Hodgkin lymphoma has decreased significantly since the introduction of HAART

• HAART and CD4+ T cells protect positive people from toxoplasmic encephalitis

• KS-associated herpesvirus epidemic in San Francisco gay men predates HIV epidemic; oral sex is a likely risk for infection

• HAART improves anaemia in HIV-positive patients

• Unexplained vision loss in AIDS patients calls for fluorescein angiography

Cancer and HIV

• HAART has little effect on anal cancer precursor lesions or on HPV

Basic science and immunology

• Protease inhibitor based HAART and lymphoid regeneration

• New findings explain T-cell loss in HIV infection

Other news

• Voluntary suspension of Kava-kava sales following safety concerns

• The Chapman Clinic: musculoskeletal treatment for patients with HIV

On the web

• Additional reports from ICAAC 2001

• Double scourge: tuberculosis and HIV coinfection

• The road to eradication: is HAART hard enough?