Recently there has been considerable interest among the public and the media concerning an unapproved immune-based therapy called Cytolin. Following an article about Cytolin in last September s edition of Out magazine, AIDS organizations around the country, and especially in Los Angeles where Cytolin use is centered, r
When researchers at Sandoz , the Swiss pharmaceutical giant that manufactures cyclosporine, checked the anti-HIV activity of over 200 of the compound s derivatives, they made a surprising discovery. These chemicals ability to inhibit HIV in the test-tube did not correlate with their ability to suppress lymphocyte activ
Ritonavir Expanded Access Abbott Laboratories has announced details of the expanded access program for its protease inhibitor, ritonavir. Any person with HIV who is over twelve years old and has a CD4 cell count below 50 is eligible. The drug, in capsule or liquid form, will be provided by lottery t
The idea of using immunosuppressive drugs for HIV infection may seem bizarre, since the end point of HIV infection is called Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. Particularly in its earlier stages, though, HIV infection is associated with chronic stimulation of the immune system. The hyperactive immune responses in peo
A drug that could prevent or reverse primary HIV infection would be dramatically better than drugs that only delay disease progression. Hence the excitement over a paper in the November 17 Science reporting that Gilead Sciences new antiviral compound PMPA can prevent the closely related simian immunodeficiency virus (S
The Food and Drug Administration in November followed up its advisory committee s recommendation and granted formal approval to 3TC (brand name: Epivir ) for use in combination with AZT to an
Following its advisory committee recommendation (see last month s Treatment Issues), the Food and Drug Administration in December granted the first formal approval for a protease inhibitor to Hoffmann-La Roche s saquinavir (brand name: Invirase ).
Despite its theoretical appeal, there has long been little attempt to diagnose or treat HIV during primary HIV infection -- the acute stage of disease just after transmission. The weakness of available anti-HIV drugs and the lack of sensitivity of diagnostic assays led most researchers to abandon the field. Recent deve
The following drug interactions have been reported for the protease inhibitors : Ritonavir (Abbott): Cannot be taken together safely with codeine, Demerol, Darvon, Feldene, Nizoral, Monostat-4, Tranxene, Valium, Versed (anesthesia), Halcion, Zanax, Tambocor, Rythmol, Vascor, Hismanol,
The four companies whose protease inhibitors are furthest along in clinical development all presented clinical information on their respective drugs at ICAAC. Overall, a number of studies suggested that higher doses of these drugs, and combination with nucleoside analogs appear to produce more potent and durable antivi
Some activists and researchers have heralded the findings of ACTG 175 and Delta as the most important trial results ever. Much time already has been spent pouring over the studies statistics, comparing populations, and drop-out rates in a valiant attempt to understand what these studies mean. What it all boils down to
First-line treatment may need to be re-evaluated according to the findings of two studies, ACTG 175, and Delta. ACTG 175 was a National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) sponsored study, presented at ICAAC (abstract LB-01). The data from Delta, a European/Australian co-operative trial, were reported
The Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) is an annual affair that brings together thousands of infectious disease experts to ponder the progress modern medicine has made in their area of specialty. This year s conference, which was held last month in San Francisco, counted the disapp
GMHC Treatment Issues; Vol 9, Number 9 - September 1995
Theo Smart
A new study using injectable (subcutaneous) peptide T for HIV-associated cognitive impairment has opened at eleven sites nationwide. This study follows a recently concluded German study that found a trend towards improvement in some measures of neurocognitive ability in people with less than 100 CD4 cells who were give
GMHC Treatment Issues; Vol 9, Number 9 - September 1995
Theo Smart
A phase I/II study of nitazoxanide (NTZ), a new drug for cryptosporidiosis, is opening this month at Cornell/New York Hospital. If the study goes well, Unimed (which owns the license for the drug in the U.S. and Canada ) plans to initiate pivotal U.S. clinical trials soon thereafter, according to Robert Dudley, Ph.D.,
GMHC Treatment Issues; Vol 9, Number 9 - September 1995
Theo Smart
Viral load, the concentration of HIV particles in the blood, may be a less stable marker in individual patients than some think, according to one study presented at the ICC Conference (abstract 0538) by Janet Raboud, Ph.D., and a group from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. The researchers suggest that m
GMHC Treatment Issues; Vol 9, Number 9 - September 1995
Theo Smart
The International Society of Chemotherapy conducted the Nineteenth International Congress on Chemotherapy in Montreal, from July 16 to 21, 1995. The focus of the conference was very broad, but a number of researchers presented new data on anti-HIV therapeutics. Highlights included phase I/II data on AG1343, Agouron s p
GMHC Treatment Issues; Vol 9, Number 9 - September 1995
Vincent Pieribone
The majority of drugs designed to block HIV replication have worked exceedingly well in the laboratory, and some even work for a short time in patients. But to date all have failed to show significant long-term benefits in most people. The last ten years of research have given us a clearer picture as to why HIV seems t
GMHC Treatment Issues; Vol 9, Number 9 - September 1995
Henry E. Chang
The waning effect of antiretroviral therapy over time is generally attributed to the emergence of drug resistant HIV strains. The experts on HIV drug resistance gathered to offer their findings and opinions at the Fourth International Workshop on HIV Drug Resistance from July 6 to 9 in Sardinia, Italy .
GMHC Treatment Issues; Vol 9, Number 9 - September 1995
David Barr and Dave Gilden
Abbott: Ritonavir for 1,500 As with Hoffmann-La Roche and Merck before it, Abbott Laboratories has agreed to provide its protease inhibitor, ritonavir, to patients through a small expanded access program. The program is scheduled to begin in January for a mini
GMHC Treatment Issues; Vol 9, Number 9 - September 1995
Theo Smart
Hydroxyurea may simply be the first of a series of compounds that inhibit cellular enzymes to suppress HIV and increase the antiviral activity of nucleoside analogs such as AZT or ddI. Some of these other drugs also inhibit ribonucleotide reductase (RR), but a few have other mechanisms of action. Like hydroxyurea, most
GMHC Treatment Issues; Vol 9, Number 9 - September 1995
Luis G. Santiago
Newly publicized trial data offer the first confirmation that hydroxyurea has strong anti-HIV activity in people, especially when combined with ddI. (See Treatment Issues, January, 1995, pages 7-9.) The current results are encouraging enough to launch several major new trials. Hydroxyurea is an oral drug approved for t
The proposed 600-person trial of low dose oral interferon (or LDAI -- Kemron and the like) has gotten a new lease on life after rejection by the Community Programs for Clinical Research on AIDS (CPCRA), which is sponsored by the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). In January, the CPCRA steer
Bastyr University, located in Seattle and the country s largest institution for teaching naturopathic medicine, has received $900,000 from the National Institutes of Health s Office of Alternative Medicine to conduct a wide-ranging and serious program of research into the efficacy of using nonmainstream medical treatme
The kombucha (or Manchurian) mushroom is one of the latest complementary therapies to hit the AIDS community. The use of kombucha started in Los Angeles over a year ago, and word has spread nearly as fast as these creatures spawn. The controversy behind the mushroom is similar to the one that arises with many other com
People with wasting syndrome lose muscle or lean body mass, and this dramatically increases their risk of death.1 Wasting is preceded by metabolic changes that may be triggered by a number of factors including infection with HIV, opportunistic infections, malabsorption, hormonal abnormalities and chronic high levels of
Last Fall, the Food and Drug Administration warned AIDS buyers clubs not to provide access to thalidomide to people with AIDS-related wasting. Taking the FDA pressure under consideration, the PWA Health Group in New York and Healing Alternatives in San Francisco have set up an Underground
Thalidomide , a drug made infamous in the early 1960s when it caused severe birth defects in children born to women who took it during pregnancy, is currently being investigated for a number of AIDS-related uses including aphthous ulcers (oral, esophageal, and rectal), primary HIV infection and AIDS-related wasting s
A few years ago, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF) was administered to people with AIDS. In one study, HIV-positive patients with Kaposi s sarcoma were treated with TNF. All the patients experienced significant side effects, and their KS lesions grew -- one participant died during the study.1 Researchers now suspect th
Last month, Treatment Issues reported that, due to supply problems, Glaxo was limiting the number of people entering the expanded access program for its experimental anti-HIV drug 3TC . Only 350 people per week could enter, with excess applicants put on a waiting list. The company has informed TI that after extensive p
Serono Laboratories human growth hormone (HGH) expanded access program for people with AIDS wasting syndrome is now in its fourth month. As mentioned in our previous article (see Treatment Issues, January 1995, pages 9-11), the program, which formally falls under the Food and Drug Administration s Treatment Investigati
For the first time since the Eisenhower administration, the Republican Party holds a majority in both the Senate (54 to 46) and the House of Representatives (230 to 204, with one independent). Almost immediately, the Republicans made it plain that we were not to expect business as usual: out went nearly a third of Hous
Encephalitis Associated with CMV Infections In an autopsy study performed by researchers at the University of California San Diego (abstract no. 288), either CMV or HIV was found in 62 percent of the brains of people with AIDS, with both viruses found in six of the 26 brains studied. CMV was associated with a seven-fol
As reported in this issue, an analysis of observational data from the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS)[1] concluded that HIV-related sensory neuropathy and four opportunistic central nervous system (CNS) diseases showed a significant upward trend in incidence between 1985 and 1992. The cohort s increasing immune su
Five AIDS-related brain and nervous system diseases are a growing problem for people with AIDS says a new federally funded study reported in the journal Neurology (October, 1994, pages 1892-1900). The study, an observational analysis from the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study, found an increasing annual rate of toxoplasmos
Last month, Treatment Issues summarized some of the major presentations at the Second National Conference on Human Retroviruses and Related Infections (held in Washington, D.C., from January 29 to February 2.) More of the important reports are described below. (References refer to the conference abstract book.) AIDS No
One key feature was painfully obvious at the Second Conference on HIV Infection in Women, which was held in Washington, D.C., February 22 to 24: Information gained from laboratory and clinical research on HIV infection in women is several years behind that available on HIV-infected men. Fundamental questions such as fe
Larry Kramer co-founded GMHC and founded ACT UP. In 1986, Kramer began publicly pressuring GMHC to start a treatment newsletter and hire Dr. Barry Gingell, a noted physician and PWA, as editor. Shortly thereafter, in 1987, Treatment Issues began publication with Barry Gingell as its first editor. Since that time, Krame
Over the past dozen years, a major effort has been under way to develop the natural immune system stimulant IL-2 (interleukin-2) as a therapeutic weapon against HIV. IL-2 induces the multiplication of CD4 (T-helper) cells in the test tube. If the same effect can be achieved in the human body, CD4 cells destroyed by HIV
The surging interest in new viral targets has brought about the first scientific meeting dedicated exclusively to the HIV enzyme integrase (January 19 to 20 at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD). What is Integrase? HIV integrase is the virus s third enzyme (the other two are reverse transcriptase and pr
In this issue we present some of the highlights of the Second National Conference on Human Retroviruses and Related Infections, held in Washington, D.C. on January 29 to February 2. The conference is well on its way to establishing itself as the major conference for presenting new research on HIV and AIDS. Next month s
This information is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.