Hepatitis B virus treatment in HIV-infected patients.
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Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is common in HIV-infected persons and is associated with increased risk of liver-related morbidity and mortality. Agents available to treat HBV infection in coinfected patients include lamivudine, entecavir, emtricitabine, adefovir, peginterferon alfa, and the recently approved telbivudine. Treatment decisions should take into account a number of factors, including antiretroviral therapy status, HBV genotype, prior experience of lamivudine, and the need to avoid drug resistance in both HIV- and HBV-infected persons. This article summarizes a presentation on treatment and management of HBV infection in HIV-infected patients made by Chloe L. Thio, MD, at the 9th Annual Ryan White CARE Act Update in Washington, DC. The original presentation is available as a Webcast at www.iasusa.org. (+info)
Virus-associated tumor imaging by induction of viral gene expression.
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PURPOSE: EBV and other herpesviruses are associated with a variety of malignancies. The EBV thymidine kinase (TK) is either not expressed or is expressed at very low levels in EBV-associated tumors. However, EBV-TK expression can be induced in vitro with several chemotherapeutic agents that promote viral lytic induction. The goal of this study is to image EBV-associated tumors by induction of viral TK expression with radiolabeled 2'-fluoro-2'-deoxy-beta-D-5-iodouracil-arabinofuranoside (FIAU). EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Immunoblot, luciferase reporter assay, and in vitro assay with [(14)C]FIAU were used to show the effects of bortezomib on the induction of lytic gene expression of EBV-associated tumor cells. In vivo imaging and ex vivo biodistribution studies with [(125)I]FIAU on EBV-associated tumors were done to visualize and confirm, respectively, the EBV(+) tumor-specific effects of bortezomib. RESULTS: In vitro assays with [(14)C]FIAU and ex vivo biodistribution studies with [(125)I]FIAU showed that uptake and retention of radiolabeled FIAU was specific for cells that express EBV-TK. Planar gamma imaging of EBV(+) Burkitt's lymphoma xenografts in severe combined immunodeficient mice showed [(125)I]FIAU localization within tumors following treatment with bortezomib. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate the feasibility of imaging chemotherapy-mediated viral lytic induction by radiopharmaceutical-based techniques such as single photon emission computed tomography and positron emission tomography. (+info)
Biodistribution, PET, and radiation dosimetry estimates of HSV-tk gene expression imaging agent 1-(2'-Deoxy-2'-18F-Fluoro-beta-D-arabinofuranosyl)-5-iodouracil in normal dogs.
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FIAU is of interest as a potential reporter probe to monitor herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase (HSV-tk) gene expression and bacterial infections. This study investigates the biodistribution, metabolism, and DNA uptake of 1-(2'-deoxy-2'-(18)F-fluoro-beta-d-arabinofuranosyl)-5-iodouracil ((18)F-FIAU) in normal dogs. METHODS: Four normal dogs were intravenously administered (18)F-FIAU. A dynamic PET scan was performed for 60 min over the upper abdomen; this was followed by a whole-body scan for a total of 150 min on 3 dogs. The fourth dog was not scanned and was euthanized at 60 min. Blood and urine samples were collected at stipulated time intervals and analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography to evaluate tracer clearance and metabolism. Tissue samples collected from various organs were analyzed to evaluate tracer uptake and DNA incorporation. Dynamic accumulation of the tracer in different organs was derived from reconstructed PET images. Nondecay-corrected time-activity curves were used for residence time calculation and absorbed dose estimation. RESULTS: At 60 min after injection, unmetabolized FIAU radioactivity in blood and urine samples was greater than 78% and 63%, respectively, demonstrating resistance to metabolism. The tissue-to-muscle ratio derived from image and tissue analysis showed a slightly higher uptake in proliferating organs (mean tissue-to-muscle values: small intestine, 1.97; marrow, 1.70) compared with nonproliferative organs (heart, 1.07; lung, 1.06). A high concentration of activity was seen in the bile (mean, 23.02), demonstrating hepatobiliary excretion of the tracer. Extraction analysis of tissue samples showed that >62% of the activity in the small intestine, 74% in marrow, and <21% in heart, liver, and muscle was incorporated into DNA. CONCLUSION: These results demonstrate that FIAU is resistant to metabolism and moderately incorporates into DNA in proliferating tissues. These results suggest that incorporation into the DNA of normal tissues may need to be considered when FIAU is used to track reporter gene activity. Studies in humans are needed to determine whether imaging properties differ in patients and are altered as a result of metabolism changes affected by gene therapies. (+info)
Construction and validation of improved triple fusion reporter gene vectors for molecular imaging of living subjects.
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Multimodality imaging using several reporter genes and imaging technologies has become an increasingly important tool in determining the location(s), magnitude, and time variation of reporter gene expression in small animals. We have reported construction and validation of several triple fusion genes composed of a bioluminescent, a fluorescent, and a positron emission tomography (PET) reporter gene in cell culture and in living subjects. However, the bioluminescent and fluorescent components of fusion reporter proteins encoded by these vectors possess lesser activities when compared with the bioluminescent and fluorescent components of the nonfusions. In this study, we first created a mutant (mtfl) of a thermostable firefly luciferase (tfl) bearing the peroxisome localization signal to have greater cytoplasmic localization and improved access for its substrate, d-luciferin. Comparison between the three luciferases [mtfl, tfl, and firefly luciferase (fl)] both in cell culture and in living mice revealed that mtfl possessed 6- to 10-fold (in vitro) and 2-fold (in vivo) higher activity than fl. The improved version of the triple fusion vector carrying mtfl as the bioluminescent reporter component showed significantly (P < 0.05) higher bioluminescence than the previous triple fusion vectors. Of the three different red fluorescent reporter genes (jred, hcred, and mrfp1, isolated from jellyfish chromophore, coral Heteractis crispa, and coral Discosoma, respectively) evaluated, mrfp1 was able to preserve highest expression as a component of the triple fusion reporter gene for in vivo fluorescence imaging. A truncated version of wild-type herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV1) thymidine kinase gene (wttk) retained a higher expression level than the truncated mutant HSV1-sr39 TK (ttk) as the third reporter component of this improved triple fusion vector. Multimodality imaging of tumor-bearing mice using bioluminescence and microPET showed higher luciferase activity [(2.7 +/- 0.1 versus 1.9 +/- 0.1) x (10(6) p/s/cm(2)/sr)] but similar level of fluorine-18-labeled 2'-fluoro-2'-deoxyarabinofuranosyl-5-ethyluracil (18F-FEAU) uptake (1.37 +/- 0.15 versus 1.37 +/- 0.2) percentage injected dose per gram] by mtfl-mrfp1-wttk-expressing tumors compared with the fl-mrfp1-wttk-expressing tumors. Both tumors showed 4- to 5-fold higher accumulation (P < 0.05) of 18F-FEAU than fluorine-18-labeled 9-(4-fluoro-3-hydroxymethylbutyl)guanine. This improved triple fusion reporter vector will enable high sensitivity detection of lower numbers of cells from living animals using the combined bioluminescence, fluorescence, and microPET imaging techniques. (+info)
Chemoimmunotherapy of chronic hepatitis B virus infection in the woodchuck model overcomes immunologic tolerance and restores T-cell responses to pre-S and S regions of the viral envelope protein.
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Treatment of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection could combine potent antiviral drugs and therapeutic vaccines to overcome immunological tolerance and induce the recovery phenotype to protect against disease progression. Conventional vaccination of woodchucks chronically infected with the woodchuck hepatitis virus (WHV) elicited differential T-cell response profiles depending on whether or not carriers were treated with the potent antiviral drug clevudine (CLV), which significantly reduces viral and antigen loads. The differential T-cell responses defined both CLV-dependent and CLV-independent epitopes of the pre-S and S regions of the WHV envelope protein. Only combined treatment involving CLV and conventional vaccine therapeutically restored the T-cell response profile of chronic WHV carrier woodchucks to that seen in prophylactic vaccination and in recovery from acute WHV infection. The results have implications for mechanisms of immunological tolerance operating in chronic HBV infection and suggest that such combined chemoimmunotherapy may be useful for treatment of humans with chronic HBV infection. (+info)
Tumor imaging using 1-(2'-deoxy-2'-18F-fluoro-beta-D-arabinofuranosyl)thymine and PET.
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The kinetics of 1-(2'-deoxy-2'-fluoro-beta-d-arabinofuranosyl)thymine (FMAU) were studied using PET to determine the most appropriate and simplest approach to image acquisition and analysis. The concept of tumor retention ratio (TRR) is introduced and validated. METHODS: Ten patients with brain (n = 4) or prostate (n = 6) tumors were imaged using (18)F-FMAU PET (mean dose, 369 MBq). Sixty-minute dynamic images were obtained; this was followed by whole-body images. Mean and maximum standardized uptake values (SUVmean and SUVmax, respectively) of each tumor were determined as the mean over 3 planes of each time interval. For kinetic analyses, blood activity was measured in 18 samples over 60 min. Samples were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography at 3 selected times to determine tracer metabolites. FMAU kinetics were measured using a 3-compartment model yielding the flux (K1 x k3/(k2 + k3)) (K1, k2, and k3 are rate constants) and compared with TRR measurements. TRR was calculated as the tumor (18)F-FMAU uptake area under the curve divided by the product of blood (18)F-FMAU AUC and time. A similar analysis was performed using muscle to estimate (18)F-FMAU delivery. RESULTS: SUVmean measurements obtained from 5 to 11 min correlated with those obtained from 30 to 60 min (r(2) = 0.92, P < 0.0001) and 50 to 60 min (r(2) = 0.92, P < 0.0001) due to the rapid clearance of (18)F-FMAU. Similar results were obtained using SUVmax measurements (r(2) = 0.93, P < 0.0001; r(2) = 0.88, P < 0.0001, respectively). The measurement of TRR using either blood or muscle activity over 11 min provided results comparable to those of 60-min dynamic imaging and a 3-compartment model. This analysis required only 5 blood samples drawn at 1, 2, 3, 5, and 11 min without metabolite correction to produce comparable results. CONCLUSION: Tissue retention ratio measurements obtained over 11 min can replace flux measurements in (18)F-FMAU imaging. The SUVmean and the SUVmax in 5-11 min images correlated well with those of images obtained at 50-60 min. The quality of the images and tissue kinetics in 11 min of imaging makes it a desirable and shorter tumor imaging option. (+info)
Imaging of musculoskeletal bacterial infections by [124I]FIAU-PET/CT.
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BACKGROUND: Traditional imaging techniques for the localization and monitoring of bacterial infections, although reasonably sensitive, suffer from a lack of specificity. This is particularly true for musculoskeletal infections. Bacteria possess a thymidine kinase (TK) whose substrate specificity is distinct from that of the major human TK. The substrate specificity difference has been exploited to develop a new imaging technique that can detect the presence of viable bacteria. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Eight subjects with suspected musculoskeletal infections and one healthy control were studied by a combination of [(124)I]FIAU-positron emission tomography and CT ([(124)I]FIAU-PET/CT). All patients with proven musculoskeletal infections demonstrated positive [(124)I]FIAU-PET/CT signals in the sites of concern at two hours after radiopharmaceutical administration. No adverse reactions with FIAU were observed. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: [(124)I]FIAU-PET/CT is a promising new method for imaging bacterial infections. (+info)
Imaging of gene expression in live pancreatic islet cell lines using dual-isotope SPECT.
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We are combining nuclear medicine with molecular biology to establish a sensitive, quantitative, and tomographic method with which to detect gene expression in pancreatic islet cells in vivo. Dual-isotope SPECT can be used to image multiple molecular events simultaneously, and coregistration of SPECT and CT images enables visualization of reporter gene expression in the correct anatomic context. We have engineered pancreatic islet cell lines for imaging with SPECT/CT after transplantation under the kidney capsule. METHODS: INS-1 832/13 and alphaTC1-6 cells were stably transfected with a herpes simplex virus type 1-thymidine kinase-green fluorescent protein (HSV1-thymidine kinase-GFP) fusion construct (tkgfp). After clonal selection, radiolabel uptake was determined by incubation with 5-(131)I-iodo-1-(2-deoxy-2-fluoro-beta-d-arabinofuranosyl)uracil ((131)I-FIAU) (alphaTC1-6 cells) or (123)I-FIAU (INS-1 832/13 cells). For the first set of in vivo experiments, SPECT was conducted after alphaTC1-6/tkgfp cells had been labeled with either (131)I-FIAU or (111)In-tropolone and transplanted under the left kidney capsule of CD1 mice. Reconstructed SPECT images were coregistered to CT. In a second study using simultaneous acquisition dual-isotope SPECT, INS-1 832/13 clone 9 cells were labeled with (111)In-tropolone before transplantation. Mice were then systemically administered (123)I-FIAU and data for both (131)I and (111)In were acquired simultaneously. RESULTS: alphaTC1-6/tkgfp cells showed a 15-fold greater uptake of (131)I-FIAU, and INS-1/tkgfp cells showed a 12-fold greater uptake of (123)I-FIAU, compared with that of wild-type cells. After transplantation under the kidney capsule, both reporter gene expression and location of cells could be visualized in vivo with dual-isotope SPECT. Immunohistochemistry confirmed the presence of glucagon- and insulin-positive cells at the site of transplantation. CONCLUSION: Dual-isotope SPECT is a promising method to detect gene expression in and location of transplanted pancreatic cells in vivo. (+info)