May
	Published: May 20, 2008 – RESEARCH Pharmacy Refill Adherence Compared with CD4 Count Changes for Monitoring HIV-Infected Adults on Antiretroviral Therapy PLoS Med. 2008 May 20; 5(5): e109 doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0050109 Gregory P. Bisson1,2*, Robert Gross1,2, Scarlett Bellamy2, Jesse Chittams2, Michael Hislop3, Leon Regensberg3, Ian Frank1, Gary Maartens4, Jean B. Nachega4,5,6* Pharmacy refill adherence assessments were as accurate as CD4 counts for detecting current virologic failure in this cohort of patients on cART and have the potential to predict virologic failure before it occurs. Approaches to cART scale-up in resource-limited settings should include an adherence-based monitoring approach.
February
	Published: February 5, 2008 – RESEARCH Prevention of Rectal SHIV Transmission in Macaques by Daily or Intermittent Prophylaxis with Emtricitabine and Tenofovir PLoS Med. 2008 Feb 5;5(2):e28 doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0050028 J. Gerardo García-Lerma1, Ron A. Otten1, Shoukat H. Qari1, Eddie Jackson2, Mian-er Cong1, Silvina Masciotra1, Wei Luo1, Caryn Kim1, Debra R. Adams1, Michael Monsour1, Jonathan Lipscomb1, Jeffrey A. Johnson1, David Delinsky3, Raymond F. Schinazi3, Robert Janssen1, Thomas M. Folks1, Walid Heneine1 This model suggests that single drugs for daily PrEP can be protective but a combination of antiretroviral drugs may be required to increase the level of protection. Short but potent intermittent PrEP can provide protection comparable to that of daily PrEP in this SHIV/macaque model. These findings support PrEP trials for HIV prevention in humans and identify promising PrEP modalities.
	Published: February 5, 2008 – PERSPECTIVES Antiretroviral Therapy for Prevention of HIV Infection: New Clues From an Animal Model PLoS Med 2008 Feb 5;5(2):e30 doi:10.1371_journal.pmed.0050030 Myron S. Cohen, Angela D. M. Kashuba Investigators at the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have conducted a series of studies in rhesus macaques to explore antiretroviral prophylaxis. First, they developed a rectal inoculation model using concentrations of simian HIV (SHIV) representative of human exposure [5]. Using this model, the investigators showed that tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF, a nucleotide analogue reverse transcriptase inhibitor) delayed, but did not prevent, acquisition of SHIV in these animals (seven out of eight animals infected over 14 weeks) [6]. A new study in this issue of PLoS Medicine by Walid Heneine and colleagues [7] extends earlier observations and will certainly affect the direction of human clinical trials and public health policy.
January
	Published: January 3, 2008 Enhancing Exposure of HIV-1 Neutralization Epitopes through Mutations in gp41 PLoS Med 2008 Jan 3; 5(1): e9 doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0050009 Catherine A. Blish1,2, Minh-An Nguyen1, Julie Overbaugh1 Two amino acid mutations within gp41 were identified that expose multiple discontinuous neutralization epitopes on diverse HIV-1 Env proteins. These exposed epitopes were shielded on the unmodified viral Env proteins, and several of the exposed epitopes encompass desired target regions for protective antibodies. Env proteins containing these modifications could act as a scaffold for presentation of such conserved domains, and may aid in developing methods to target antibodies to such regions.
	Published: January 15, 2008 – PERSPECTIVES Can the New Humanized Mouse Model Give HIV Research a Boost PLoS Med. 2008 Jan 15;5(1):e13 doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0050013 Barbara L. Shacklett The "BLT mouse" holds promise for the preclinical evaluation of microbicides and antiretroviral prophylaxis regimens.
	Published: January 15, 2008 – RESEARCH Antiretroviral Pre-exposure Prophylaxis Prevents Vaginal Transmission of HIV-1 in Humanized BLT Mice PLoS Med. 2008 Jan 15;5(1):e16 doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0050016 Paul W. Denton1, Jacob D. Estes2, Zhifeng Sun1, Florence A. Othieno1, Bangdong L. Wei1, Anja K. Wege1, Daniel A. Powell1, Deborah Payne3, Ashley T. Haase2, J. Victor Garcia1 The fact that humanized BLT mice are susceptible to intravaginal infection makes this system an excellent candidate for preclinical evaluation of both microbicides and pre-exposure prophylactic regimens. The utility of humanized mice to study intravaginal HIV-1 transmission is particularly highlighted by the demonstration that pre-exposure prophylaxis can prevent intravaginal HIV-1 transmission in the BLT mouse model.

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