Carlo Torti

..To determine the impact of genotypic inhibitory quotient (GIQ) for lopinavir (LPV) in patients failing HAART with limited antiretroviral exposure...

..Further studies are needed to compare pVL decay between antiretroviral regimens and assess whether proviral HIV-DNA load is a surrogate marker of treatment effectiveness...

..Moreover, the predictive value of gender and CD4+ T-cell count on the risk of raised transaminase levels has been poorly investigated in populations of patients co-infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV)...

..Baseline and follow-up predictors of new AIDS-defining events or death (ADE/death) among patients who started HAART late in their disease history have rarely been assessed simultaneously...

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..A rational switch strategy should consider both metabolic and anthropometric disturbances and effectiveness of antiretroviral regimens...

..In conclusion, pharmacokinetic variability and low LPV concentrations have been found, supporting the use of therapeutic drug monitoring in those starting this drug...

..Liver biopsy may provide further important information regarding patients with severe transaminase elevation, for a better understanding of the etiology of liver damage...

..We investigated whether tenofovir plus didanosine at a weight-adjusted dosage could be responsible for such an effect, and factors associated with CD4 + T cell count evolution under this combination...

..The independent role of hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 3 in liver transaminase elevation following highly active antiretroviral regimens is still controversial...

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..The presence of HCV and/or HBV co-infections correlated with higher plasma drug concentrations, although it did not appear to influence hepatotoxicity risk...

..These findings support the use of resistance testing in patients naïve for anti-retroviral therapy, and suggest that the possible impact of newly recognised treatment-related mutations on clinical outcome requires further investigation...

..The evidence of inter-subtype recombinants points to significant genetic assortment. Overall our results support phylogenetic analysis as a tool for epidemiological investigation in order to guide targeted prevention strategies...

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..Prevalence and factors associated with etravirine (EW) resistance mutations among patients failing on first-generation non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTI) merit investigation...

..There is lack of data on the incidence of liver fibrosis (LF) progression in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) monoinfection and risk factors for LF...

..The efficacy of long-term hepatitis B virus (HBV) treatment with tenofovir (TDF) in relation to lamivudine (LMV) resistance in HIV patients failing on LMV deserves further investigations...

..To assess incidence, risk factors, histology, and outcome of severe hepatotoxicity (SH) during antiretroviral treatment (ART)...

..38; 95% CI:0.17-0.86; P = 0.020). Prevalence of primary resistance mutations suggests that genotypic resistance testing should be performed before starting treatment in naïve patients in Italy, particularly when NNRTI are prescribed...

..Baseline and follow-up predictors of new AIDS-defining events (ADE) or death among patients who started HAART with CD4+ T-cell counts > or =200 cells/mm3 have rarely been assessed simultaneously...

..Resistance testing on the proviral genome has been suggested in order to detect the presence of archived resistance mutations and to guide drug prescription...

..This effect was particularly attributed to HCV-3, which was the only genotype associated with lower triglyceridaemia during HAART...

..4; 95% CI 0.2-0.8; p = 0.014) were both negative independent predictors of sustained virologic response, while the use of boosted protease inhibitor-containing regimens resulted to be protective (OR: 2.4; 95% CI 1.1-5.3; p = 0.032)...

..A slow decline in the detectability of mutations encoding NNRTI resistance was found...

..Lipid disturbances have also been associated with hepatitis C virus (HCV) chronic infection in HIV-uninfected participants. HAART-induced lipid abnormalities may then have peculiar features in HIV-HCV co-infected individuals...

..Homocysteinemia (Hcy) increase and risk factors in HIV-positive patients are not clear yet...

..52-5.52; P=.001; RetroGram: OR, 2.34; 95% CI, 1.21-4.55; P=.012), whereas, in contrast to real or virtual phenotype, interpretations according to biological cut-offs were not (OR, 1.91; 95% CI, 0.77-4.76; P=.162)...

..Accurate screening programs and integration of virological tools must be implemented urgently, given the high prevalence of HIV-2, particularly in immigrant patients...

..The extent of short-term CD4(+) T-cell recovery in patients tolerating first-line highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) and attaining undetectable HIV RNA levels is inadequately defined...

..There is lack of data on GFR estimated by these methods in patients on highly active antiretroviral therapy...

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..At multivariate analysis, SENV infection did not appear to have any negative impact on survival, while a possible protective effect needs further investigation...

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..To assess the impact of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) on health resource utilisation (HRU) and to estimate associated direct costs in a population based setting...

..Lastly, the effect of tenofovir on 1,25-(OH)₂ vitamin D is uncertain...

..Moreover, therapeutic drug monitoring could be useful in specific circumstances (such as in patients with liver impairment or in case of potential drug-drug interactions)...

..Data regarding CD4+ recovery after switching from protease inhibitor (PI)-based regimens to regimens not containing PI are scarce...

..At the same time, HAART proved effective in reducing HCMV DNAemia without the need for a specific therapy...

..Therefore, we examined pregnant women by regional provenance and measured variables that could be associated with detectable HIV RNA at delivery...

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..To assess prevalence and predictive factors of viro-immunological discordant trends in a cohort of heavily pretreated patients...

..Furthermore, proactive diagnosis of vertebral fragility fractures is particularly relevant in patients who are overweight or suffer from diabetes...

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..85%) than in other studies, which ranged from 2 to 19%. The M184V mut seemed to confer some viro-immunological benefit when associated with the Q151M mutation, compared with the latter alone...

..As a consequence, new more effective and tolerable antiretroviral agents and regimens are needed, as well as new strategies for HIVdisease management. Strategically driven clinical researches are needed to address these issues...

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..Only a careful evaluation of the data and the scientific concordance of all the evidence will resolve the question of whether they are only commensal viruses or pose a real pathogenic potential...

..The use of NFV as a first-line PI, as an application of drug sequencing strategies, may help preserve future PI options...

..Twelve of our patients (12.9%) had no mutation encoding drug resistance and were completely sensitive to all RT and protease inhibitors. Therefore, not all virological failures are caused by HIV-1 genomic resistance...

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..Moreover, it is important to understand whether new biomarkers or neuroimaging tools can help to identify better the most at risk population. Please see related article: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2334/11/356...

..These results provide new insights on B cell in HIV-1 infection and show that development of B cell abnormalities precedes CD4⁺ T cell decline...

..To evaluate deaths from AIDS-defining malignancies (ADM) and non-AIDS-defining malignancies (nADM) in the D:A:D Study and to investigate the relationship between these deaths and immunodeficiency...

..Main conclusions are summarized and critically discussed in this consensus statement, as well as some of the most recent data supporting these recommendations are provided...

..These results strongly suggested that mass treatment would be indicated in the indigenous community, possibly leading to improved nutritional status...

..The poorer virological responses in children may increase the likelihood of emergence of resistance...

..The effect of the HIV reverse transcriptase K65R mutation on virological response to salvage therapy has not been clearly defined...

..Therefore, in some cases DNA plus RNA genotyping might assist in choosing more accurately subsequent antiretroviral regimens...

..The choice of an alternative regimen may be guided by a drug-resistance test. However, interpretation of resistance from genotypic data poses a major challenge...

..55; P = 0.001), and adherence to expert advice (OR = 0.37; P < 0.001) predicted virologic response. The vPt is as predictive of treatment outcome as the rPT. Use of expert advice significantly improved the response to therapy...

..There is still considerable uncertainty as to the best algorithm for interpreting human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) genotyping results...

..However, our results indicate that a number of mutations may have an impact on APV resistance, but that they are missed by current interpretation algorithms and this merits further investigations...

..One of the more vigorous debates in the field of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) is how to start it and what the optimal drug sequence is...

..Several factors should be considered to take better advantage of resistance testing, including treatment history, clinical status, and patients' ability to adhere to treatment...

..Our data confirm the effectiveness and tolerability of SR-VF in mixed anxiety-depressive states. The differential response suggests a pathophysiologic and clinical distinction between GAD with comorbid MD or dysthymia...

..What is new in the present report is the suggestion that the utility of GBP in resistant bipolar disorder resides in its effectiveness against comorbid panic disorder and alcohol abuse...

..This impairment is associated with alterations in gut microbiota and intestinal inflammatory parameters. These findings support the hypothesis that alterations at the gastrointestinal-tract level are a key factor in HIV pathogenesis...