* AG1343 activity The protease inhibitor AG1343 is active against HIV, reducing the amount of virus detectable in the blood (viral load) and boosting CD4 counts, according to the earliest results from a trial in London. The trial at the Kobler Centre in London is the first time AG1343 has been taken by people with HIV.
In the past two years the concept of early intervention has come in for savage criticism following the failure of the Concorde trial to show added benefit from early AZT treatment. While some researchers have responded by hardening their view that treatment should be delayed until symptoms develop, others have argued t
Until recently scientists have been restricted in their ability to inhibit HIV. For several years anti-viral treatment of HIV was limited to one drug, AZT , and all the other licensed anti-HIV drugs work in similar ways to AZT. One of the main difficulties in treating HIV with the existing anti-viral agents is that HIV
Members of AIDS community groups across Europe have asked Glaxo Wellcome to rethink its marketing plans for the promising anti-HIV drug 3TC in order to make more of the drug available this year. Worldwide demand for 3TC has rocketed since the release of trial results in Glasgow last November
The recent results of the ACTG 175 and Delta trials have important implications for people with HIV who have not started to take anti-HIV drugs. Although standard practice to date has been to start treatment with AZT alone, both trials found that other drug regimes are more effective. These latest studies are also the
Traditionally, anti-viral treatment against HIV has focused on drugs that inhibit the activity of proteins or enzymes which HIV uses to manufacture more virus from inside infected cells. Gene therapy targets an earlier stage, interfering with the genetic process by which HIV proteins and enzymes are made in the first p
In early November the Anti-viral Drugs Advisory Committee to the US Food and Drug Administration ( FDA ) recommended accelerated approval for two new anti-HIV drugs, 3TC and saquinavir . It also recommended full approval for stavudine
Royal College of Physicians, 11 St Andrews Place, Regents Park, London NW1 Saturday 2nd December 1995, 10.30 am - 4.30 pm - Are you aware of all the NHS services available to people with HIV & AIDS? - Are you interested in the different treatment approaches of London s clinical centres? - Have you talked to people
Roche has announced an expanded access scheme for its protease inhibitor, saquinavir . The drug will be available from 1st December to people in the UK who have failed on other anti-retroviral drugs, and use in combination with other drugs will be permitted. This is the first protease inhibitor to be made available in
Important new research into the treatment of HIV and opportunistic infections has been reported at medical conferences recently. AIDS Treatment Update writers attended the 35th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) in San Francisco and the 5th European Conference on Clinical Aspects a
The results of the Delta and ACTG 175 trials, reported in last month s AIDS Treatment Update, sparked a new wave of optimism over anti-HIV drugs. Both trials showed substantial benefits of combination therapy with AZT plus ddI or AZT plus
Kaposi s sarcoma (KS) is an AIDS-defining illness that affects a substantial proportion of HIV-positive gay men and Africans. KS lesions can develop both inside and on the surface of the body. On the skin they look like brownish-red to purplish-black marks. KS on the skin is not life-threatening, but visceral KS (invol
For years there has been what is, to the non-medic, a striking divide between the views of different AIDS doctors. In the light of Concorde, which found no advantage to early intervention with AZT monotherapy, some stressed the lack of evidence of any benefits from beginning anti-HIV treatment before symptoms occur.
The results of Delta and ACTG 175 are likely to have important implications for the treatment decisions of people with HIV. For people who have not yet begun anti-HIV treatment, the results unequivocally indicate that they should start with combination therapy , not
Combination therapy is dramatically more effective than AZT monotherapy at preventing disease progression and prolonging life. This is the finding from two trials whose results were reported in September. The results have important implications for the treatment of people living with HIV. The two trials are the Eur
AVANTI 2 Two London clinics hope to start recruiting soon for a new trial testing combinations of anti-HIV drugs. The international trial, called AVANTI, has already been running for some time in other European countries. It is designed to be an evolving, ongoing study, adding new arms to test new combinations as time
Unfortunately, waiting for things is a fact of life. Waiting in a supermarket queue, at the post-office, cinema. Why not at a clinic? Of course, the urgency of need is a factor, but we are talking about a trial drug whose efficacy has only just been documented. Personally, I have just had to wait for eight weeks for my
Most medical efforts to halt or slow the progression of HIV infection have focused on anti-viral drugs. Virologists believe that if you can interfere with a virus ability to reproduce, its damaging effects on human cells will be stopped or at least reduced. But HIV is not like most other viruses. It specifically infect
Four HIV-positive people on an open ward at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital have become infected with multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). The infections occurred after sputum samples were taken in the open ward from a patient already infected with the multi-drug resistant strain. The mycobacteria that
Resistance to anti-HIV drugs is an area of increasing interest to laboratory researchers, treating physicians and people with HIV. Given time, most anti-HIV drugs eventually fail to continue suppressing the virus, and there is good evidence that in some cases this is due to the appearance of mutants or variants of HIV
* AG1343 results The protease inhibitor AG1343 has significant anti-HIV effects, according to the preliminary results of a trial at London s Kobler Centre. The trial recruited HIV-positive men with CD4 counts above 200 who had never taken anti-HIV drugs before. Full results were reported for ten participants who receiv
In an editorial in The Lancet, one of the world s leading AIDS researchers has questioned whether scientists are focussing on the right target. Professor Jay Levy from San Francisco argues that the limited effectiveness of current approaches to treating HIV infection is the result of researchers emphasis on trying to p
Ten years ago when AZT was developed the drug received enormous publicity in the medical press, the papers and on the financial pages. Some of this was genuine news - it was after all the first drug that showed some anti-HIV activity. But a lot of the publicity was drug company hype aimed at the share price and future
_ 3TC _ More than 5,000 people in Europe are receiving this drug through an expanded access scheme, and manufacturers Glaxo-Wellcome say that they will no longer ration the drug if the current rate of demand stays the same. 3TC should be available within four to five weeks to individuals who are unable to tolerate othe
Over the past few months AIDS Treatment Update has reported on a number of new drugs which appear to have promising effects on T-cell counts and viral load. Inevitably, clinics report growing demand amongst patients for these drugs, especially amongst people who have used currently approved drugs and feel that they are
Avoiding weight loss or taking steps to halt it is an important part of any HIV treatment strategy. Research suggests that once an individual with AIDS has lost one-third of their ideal body mass, their ability to withstand infections is severely compromised. Weight loss of more than 5% (around 7lb for a 10 to 11 stone
The July 1995 edition of NAM s HIV & AIDS Treatments Directory includes a new section on nutrition. The Directory is available from our editorial address (see back page). One edition costs œ19.95 (œ34.95 to professionals); an annual two edition subscription costs œ35 (œ55 to professionals). AVERT has published a us
There are three main components to weight loss in people with HIV. The major problem appears to be loss of appetite (anorexia), resulting in insufficient intake of calories. The effects of anorexia are made worse by the second factor - that on average people with HIV burn up more calories than uninfected people, meanin
San Francisco s College of Traditional Chinese Medicine has identified seven HIV-related conditions which appear to respond well to traditional Chinese medical treatment, writes Keith Alcorn. The seven conditions are: diarrhoea, weight loss, abdominal pain, nausea, headaches, enlarged lymph nodes and neuropathy. Howard
Glaxo-Wellcome, manufacturers of 3TC , have told European AIDS groups that any HIV-positive person who qualifies for its expanded access scheme for 3TC should be able to receive the drug within four weeks, writes Keith Alcorn. Last month AIDS Treatment Update reported on growing concern throughout Europe over the ratio
Doctors in London have reported preliminary results of a study using thalidomide to relieve the symptoms of the gut infection microsporidiosis . A formal trial to test the treatment is now being planned. Microsporidiosis is infection with the Microsporidia family of gut parasites. No-one knows how the organisms are tra
* SPC-3 TRIAL BEGINS A trial of a new experimental treatment begins at the Kobler Centre in London this month. The drug is called SPC-3, and consists of part of the gp120 protein that is found on the surface of HIV particles. Before HIV can infect a human cell, it must first bind to it. A major way in which it does thi
As more and more of the new protease inhibitors enter clinical trials, information is accumulating about the development of resistance to them. Although there is still insufficient information to reach firm conclusions, the emerging facts may have important implications for people deciding whether or not to take part i
In late February 1400 delegates gathered in Washington DC for the conference HIV Infection in Women: Setting a New Agenda . This was the first time a scientific meeting had been devoted to the range of scientific and social questions about the specific ways in which HIV affects women. Almost a quarter of the delegates
Interleukin-2 ( IL-2 ) is a cytokine which becomes depleted in HIV infection. In the test-tube IL-2 encourages the growth of CD4 cells. American researchers have been studying IL-2 for over three years, and in March reported some startling examples of immune system re-constitution among treated people. The particip
* PENTA trials update The PENTA 1 trial comparing early with deferred treatment with AZT has now enrolled 172 children (all infected by mother to baby transmission). The independent Data and Safety Monitoring Committee (DSMC) met in March and recommended that the trial continue as there has been no untoward toxicity an
The pancreas is an organ which lies in the abdomen, behind the stomach. It plays an important role in the digestive system by producing enzymes which break down protein in food. These enzymes enter the small intestine through a tube which is also the route by which another digestive fluid, bile, passes from the gall bl
Recent research may have come up with an answer to a question which has been confusing people with HIV and their doctors for some years: can a person with HIV be re-infected with HIV through, for example, unsafe sex _ and if so, does it matter? At January s Second National Conference on Human Retroviruses in Washington
Researchers are preparing to begin a trial in London of a protease inhibitor that in early studies appears to be among the most promising of experimental anti-HIV treatments. Assuming that the study is approved this month by the Medicines Control Agency, the drug, which is produced by Abbott under the codename ABT-538,
* Early protease data The Second National Conference on Human Retroviruses and Related Infections in Washington heard the results of several early studies of newer protease inhibitors . One study looked at the effect of L-735,524, a drug by Merck, on CD4 counts and viral load among people with CD4 counts below 500.
Equilibrium promises to be a jolly good journal. It s a bound A5 booklet that seems to fill a niche between Body Positive newsletter (very good on benefits, events, self-help groups) and AIDS Treatment Update which is a bit more high tech with reviews of the latest treatment trends. The pilot issue has articles on dive
Are you interested in writing about treatments issues or living with HIV or AIDS? You don t have to have a medical background or even a detailed understanding of treatments issues to help: there is a range of opportunities for people with experience of HIV and AIDS - both those living with HIV or AIDS and those working
The first trial of a new protease inhibitor is now recruiting participants at the Kobler Centre in London. Like other protease inhibitors such as saquinavir , the drug AG1343 is designed to block the effects of the enzyme that HIV uses in the formation of new virus particles when it reprod
Recent issues of AIDS Treatment Update have reported on what appears to be a promising new antiviral combination _ AZT plus 3TC . Two European studies found that the combination reduced levels of HIV in the blood and boosted CD4 counts to a greater extent than any pr
Passive immunotherapy is a treatment based on the theory that antibodies to HIV taken from infected but healthy individuals may prevent disease progression in other people with low CD4 counts. Blood plasma is taken from donors with high CD4 counts, heat-treated to kill HIV, and then infused into recipients with low CD4
The Second National Conference on Human Retroviruses and Related Infections held in Washington at the end of January heard promising news on the effectiveness of implants which can be used to deliver ganciclovir directly into an eye affected by cytomegalovirus ( CMV ). The studies sho
For several years there has been confusion over the possibility that the anti-herpes drug acyclovir can prolong the survival of people with AIDS. Three studies published in recent years have suggested that the drug does improve the life expectancy of people with low CD4 counts, but a further two studies reported last m
* Oral ganciclovir approved On 16th December oral ganciclovir was approved by the UK Committee on Safety of Medicines as maintenance therapy for CMV retinitis. Previously, people who had had an episode of retinitis successfully stabilised with intravenous (IV) ganciclovir or foscarnet had to receive daily IV infusions
British researchers in The Gambia have discovered that three out of six prostitutes who are not infected with HIV despite being repeatedly exposed to the virus may have acquired immunity. The three women have cytotoxic (cell-killing) T-cells that can kill HIV-infected cells in the lab. According to Dr Sarah Rowland-Jon
Two new studies providing insights into the interactions between HIV and the immune system may have important implications for antiviral treatment. The studies, published in the journal Nature in January, provide evidence that HIV infection is likely to be a much more dynamic process than some people previously believe
An important new trial to evaluate the drug 3TC , also known as lamivudine, aims to recruit participants in Britain in February. AIDS Treatment Update issue 24/25 reported results from two small trials which suggested that AZT plus 3TC may be the best combination y
Hydroxyurea is an anti-cancer drug that has been in use for over 30 years. In December researchers at the US National Cancer Institute (NCI) reported that it is an effective inhibitor of HIV in the test-tube at very low concentrations far below the levels currently used in cancer treatment. As a leukaemia treatment hyd
For 1995 s first, redesigned issue of AIDS Treatment Update, we asked leading AIDS researchers, clinicians and activists for their views on current and future treatment developments. To gauge our respondents opinions on progress made recently, we first asked What was the most significant development in 1994 in relation
This information is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.