Abstracts from "Retrovir--an update of its use in HIV therapy". Satellite symposium of the IVth International Conference on AIDS. Stockholm, Sweden, 12 June 1988.
OBJECTIVE: Primary prophylaxis against Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) for patients with HIV infection has been recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We evaluated alternatives to routine primary PCP prophylaxis with aerosolized pentamidine. METHODS: A total of 121 HIV-infected patients with CD4+ cell counts
In October 2000, the Federal Court of Appeal issued the latest ruling in the ongoing dispute over the validity of Glaxo's Canadian patent for AZT, upholding Glaxo's patent but narrowing the scope of the claims it could validly make. The decision is now on appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relation between HIV-induced brain lesions, zidovudine (ZDV) treatment and survival length in a well-defined population of HIV-positive patients. METHODS AND PATIENTS: Ulleval Hospital has the responsibility for treating all AIDS patients from the city of Oslo except haemophiliac patients. The patient population in this autopsy study comprised all adult AIDS patients in Oslo who were treated at our hospital and died during 1983-1994 (n = 171). This represents 86% of all adult AIDS patients from Oslo who died during the same period. Full autopsy, including neuropathological examination of the brain and spinal cord, was performed on 128 (75%) of those who died. RESULTS: No significant differences were found between autopsy and non-autopsy cases with regard to sex, age, risk groups, survival length or ZDV treatment. In the autopsy material, multinucleated giant cells (MGC) in brain tissue were found in 29 cases and diffuse damage of white matter in 52 cases. Analysis shows that ZDV (600 mg per day) reduced the incidence of these brain lesions, but only if continued until death. A second finding was an increased incidence of HIV-induced brain lesions for those with long-term survival. Together these observations may explain a substantial part of the time-trend in the incidence of MGC in Oslo. MGC were frequent (40%) during the first years of the epidemic, although survival length was short in this period. The incidence fell markedly around the time ZDV was introduced and later remained low in those using ZDV until death. The incidence of MGC has, however, increased during the later years, the new cases mainly occurring in patients who had discontinued ZDV use. CONCLUSION: If continued until death, ZDV can reduce the incidence of HIV-induced brain lesions in AIDS patients. When ZDV treatment is terminated a rapid increase occurs in the incidence of HIV encephalitis.
Seventy-four HIV-infected homosexual males belonging to CDC groups IIB, III, and IVC2 were treated with increasing doses of zidovudine within the Multicentre Canadian AZT Trial. Following a 3 week observation period, consenting volunteers received 600 mg/day for 18 weeks, 900 mg/day for 9 weeks, and 1,200 mg/day for 9 weeks. This was followed by a 6 week washout period after which zidovudine was restarted at 1,200 mg/day for 18 weeks. Patients were followed for a total of 63 weeks. Every 3 weeks they underwent a full clinical and laboratory assessment. For the purpose of this analysis, subjects were divided according to the mean initial platelet value (greater than or equal to 150,000 or less than 150,000/L) into normals (n = 57) and thrombocytopenics (n = 12), respectively. Analysis of variance was used to compare the mean platelet values at each zidovudine dose. All comparisons were made against baseline values. Zidovudine increased platelet counts in normal and thrombocytopenic subjects. The magnitude of this effect varied depending on the baseline platelet count. Among normals, the platelet count increased from 241,000 +/- 45,000/L at baseline to 261,000 +/- 51,000/L (p less than 0.01). while receiving 600 mg/day of zidovudine. This effect was self-limited, reaching a peak by week 3. The platelet count decreased to baseline values despite increasing the dose of zidovudine to 900 or 1,200 mg/day. The platelet count further decreased to 218,000 +/- 43,000/L during the washout phase (washout vs. 1,200 mg, p less than 0.01).2+ not found to be dose related. The platelet count decreased to 101,000 +/- 34,000/L during the washout phase (washout vs. 1,200 mg/day, p less than 0.07).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
The paper presents data of a study of the structure of reverse transcriptase gene in the population infected with HIV subtype G formed during the 1989 HIV infection outbreak in the North-Caucasian region. The authors analyzed 3 samples obtained in 1993-1994 and 17 samples taken in 2000-2001. The phylogenetic analysis indicated that polymerase of the test virus variants belonged to HIV-1 subtype G. The mutations occurring with azidothymidine therapy did not differ from those in subtype B. Analysis of the mutations of resistance to other nucleoside and non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors did not show great differences from subtype B either.
