This protocol is an exploratory study of HIV expression in patients who are receiving highly active antiviral therapy and who have low viral loads below or near the current limit of detection (50 copies/ml plasma). Recent studies have suggested that patients with suppressed viral loads in this low range have continued HIV expression, but the amount and the origin of this virus remains unknown. The amount of virus expression in plasma is uncertain because the current viral load assays are imprecise in the cutoff range of 50-75 copies/ml plasma. The origin of the HIV found at low viral loads detected is unknown as well; two possible sources of virus include expression from long-lived reservoirs of infected cells, and low level spreading infection to uninfected cells. Determining the origin of HIV expression has clinical importance; currently available HIV drug therapy will have little effect on HIV expression from established reservoirs, but more potent HIV therapy could potentially inhibit a ...

This protocol is an exploratory study of HIV expression in patients who are receiving highly active antiviral therapy and who have low viral loads below or near the current limit of detection (50 copies/ml plasma). Recent studies have suggested that patients with suppressed viral loads in this low range have continued HIV expression, but the amount and the origin of this virus remains unknown. The amount of virus expression in plasma is uncertain because the current viral load assays are imprecise in the cutoff range of 50-75 copies/ml plasma. The origin of the HIV found at low viral loads detected is unknown as well; two possible sources of virus include expression from long-lived reservoirs of infected cells, and low level spreading infection to uninfected cells. Determining the origin of HIV expression has clinical importance; currently available HIV drug therapy will have little effect on HIV expression from established reservoirs, but more potent HIV therapy could potentially inhibit a ...

TY - JOUR. T1 - Correlates of plasma HIV-1 RNA viral load among HIV-1 seropositive women in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. AU - Kapiga, Saidi H.. AU - Bang, Heejung. AU - Spiegelman, Donna. AU - Msamanga, Gernard I.. AU - Coley, Jenny. AU - Hunter, David J.. AU - Fawzi, Wafaie W.. PY - 2002/7/1. Y1 - 2002/7/1. N2 - This study was conducted to determine the predictors of plasma HIV-1 RNA viral load in HIV-1-positive pregnant women (N = 151) participating in a clinical trial in Tanzania. Viral load was measured at randomization, delivery, and approximately 7 months after delivery. The median viral load was 20,400 copies/mL at baseline, 20,216 copies/mL at delivery, and 19,100 copies/mL 7 months after delivery. The absolute CD4+ lymphocyte count had a strong negative correlation with HIV-1 RNA viral load at baseline (r = -.38), time of delivery (r = -.36), and 7 months after delivery (r = -.53). The association between CD4+ lymphocyte count and HIV-1 RNA viral load was modified by the per capita daily ...

This chapter focuses on the available molecular tests for diagnosis, monitoring, and management of HIV-1-infected individuals. It also focuses on molecular methods as they apply to the diagnosis and management of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV- 1). The guidelines for initiation of therapy based on viral load have changed as one's understanding of disease progression at higher CD4 cell counts has improved. Combination therapy using drugs from multiple classes has been the most effective approach to controlling viral replication. There are several FDA-approved assays for the detection, quantification, and characterization of HIV-1, and this field has expanded recently with the approval of real-time RTPCR viral load tests. A section covers conventional and real-time viral load tests, RNA and proviral DNA tests for the detection of HIV-1, resistance testing, and the tropism assay. The Amplicor monitor test was modified in a study comparing viral load values between the conventional ...

Load Test performance (and in some circumstances, the accuracy of time measurement) may depend on the JVM GC settings and the amount of memory available to the JVM. It is recommended to have at least 4GB of system memory per Load Test process. The Load Test process JVM memory size is automatically configured by the Load Test launcher or script. To explicitly set the maximum amount of memory available to the JVM of a Load Test process, pass the -XmxNNNNM argument to the Load Test process from the command line, where the NNNN is the amount of memory in megabytes. On a Windows system, prepend -J before the argument; for example: lt -J-Xmx4096M.. For optimized performance, Parasoft Load Test uses the parallel young generation garbage collector specified by the JVM argument -XX:+UseParallelGC. If necessary, this can be turned off with the command-line argument -XX:-UseParallelGC. If you will be using this argument on a Windows system, prepend -J before the argument (following the name of the ...

BACKGROUND. Most adults infected with HIV achieve viral suppression within a year of starting combination antiretroviral therapy (cART). It is important to understand the risk of AIDS events or death for patients with a suppressed viral load.. METHODS AND FINDINGS. Using data from the Collaboration of Observational HIV Epidemiological Research Europe (2010 merger), we assessed the risk of a new AIDS-defining event or death in successfully treated patients. We accumulated episodes of viral suppression for each patient while on cART, each episode beginning with the second of two consecutive plasma viral load measurements ,50 copies/µl and ending with either a measurement ,500 copies/µl, the first of two consecutive measurements between 50-500 copies/µl, cART interruption or administrative censoring. We used stratified multivariate Cox models to estimate the association between time updated CD4 cell count and a new AIDS event or death or death alone. 75,336 patients contributed 104,265 ...

AbstractPurpose: To investigate whether TT virus (TTV) viral load may be used as a surrogate marker for functional immune reconstitution in HIV-infected patients receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Method: Fifteen protease inhibitor-naIve HIV-infected patients were included in a longitudinal study. From each patient, three serum samples taken before HAART initiation and three samples taken during HAART were analyzed. TTV was detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and was quantitated by competitive PCR. TTV viral heterogeneity was determined by restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) and sequencing. Results: All 15 HIV-infected patients were TTV positive. No significant change in HIV RNA or TTV viral load was observed at the three time points before HAART initiation. Even though HAART lead to an immediate and significant reduction in HIV RNA (p = .0001), a significant reduction in TTV viral load (p = .0002) was not observed until after 3-5 months of HAART. Four patients

BACKGROUND: Most studies on hepatitis C virus (HCV)/HIV-coinfection do not account for the order and duration of these two infections. We aimed to assess the effect of incident HCV infection, and its timing relative to HIV seroconversion (HIVsc) in HIV-positive MSM on their subsequent CD4 T-cell count and HIV RNA viral load trajectories. METHODS: We included MSM with well estimated dates of HIVsc from 17 cohorts within the CASCADE Collaboration. HCV-coinfected MSM were matched to as many HIV monoinfected MSM as possible by HIV-infection duration and combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) use. We used multilevel random-effects models stratified by cART use to assess differences in CD4 cell count and HIV RNA viral load trajectories by HCV-coinfection status. FINDINGS: We matched 214 (ART-naive) and 147 (on cART) HCV-coinfected MSM to 5384 and 3954, respectively, matched controls. The timing of HCV seroconversion (HCVsc) relative to HIVsc had no demonstrable effect on HIV RNA viral load or CD4 cell

Erratum to Virus-induced target cell activation reconciles set-point viral load heritability and within-host evolution [Epidemics (2013) 174-180 ...

ABSTRACT: to determine the effect of a rifampicin-containing tuberculosis regimen on efavirenz plasma concentrations and viral load in HIV/AIDS-Tuberculosis infection patients who received efavirenz-based antiretroviral therapy. Methods: plasma efavirenz concentrations and HIV viral load were measured in HIV/AIDS patients treated with 600 mg efavirenz-based antiretroviral for 3 to 6 months and in HIV/AIDS-Tuberculosis infection patients treated with similar antiretroviral regimen plus rifampicin-containing antituberculosis in Sulianti Saroso Infectious disease Hospital, Jakarta. Plasma efavirenz concentration in both groups were compared using Mann-Whitney test, while proportion of patients with viral load ,40 copy/mL were analyzed with chi-square test. Results: forty fve patients (27 with HIV/AIDS and 18 with HIV/AIDS-Tuberculosis infections) were recruited during the period of February to May 2015. The median efavirenz plasma concentration obtained from HIV/AIDS group was 0,680 mg/L(range 0,24 ...

Simon Collins, HIV i-Base. This longitudinal observational cohort study describes coronavirus viral load in saliva throat samples in 23 people diagnosed with laboratory confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Hong Kong.. Higher viral load was associated with more symptoms, slower recover and poorer outcomes.. The median viral load in posterior oropharyngeal saliva or other respiratory specimens at presentation was 5·2 log10 copies per mL (IQR 4·1-7·0). Salivary viral load was highest during the first week after symptom onset and subsequently declined with time (slope −0·15, 95% CI −0·19 to −0·11; R2=0·71). In one patient, viral RNA was detected 25 days after symptom onset.. Ref: To KK-W et al. Temporal profiles of viral load in posterior oropharyngeal saliva samples and serum antibody responses during infection by SARS-CoV-2: an observational cohort study. Lancet Infectious Disease. DOI: 10.1016/S1473-3099(20)30196-1. (23 March 2020 ...

TY - JOUR. T1 - Targeting of conserved gag-epitopes in early HIV infection is associated with lower plasma viral load and slower CD4+ T cell depletion.. AU - Perez, Carina L. AU - Milush, Jeffrey M. AU - Buggert, Marcus. AU - Eriksson, Emily M. AU - Larsen, Mette Voldby. AU - Liegler, Teri. AU - Hartogensis, Wendy. AU - Bacchetti, Peter. AU - Lund, Ole. AU - Hecht, Frederick M. AU - Nixon, Douglas F. AU - Karlsson, Annika C. PY - 2013. Y1 - 2013. N2 - We aimed to investigate whether the character of the immunodominant HIV-Gag peptide (variable or conserved) targeted by CD8+ T cells in early HIV infection would influence the quality and quantity of T cell responses, and whether this would affect the rate of disease progression. Treatment-naive HIV-infected study subjects within the OPTIONS cohort at the University of California, San Francisco, were monitored from an estimated 44 days postinfection for up to 6 years. CD8+ T cells responses targeting HLA-matched HIV-Gag-epitopes were identified and ...

Viral load, also known as viral burden, viral titre or viral titer, is a numerical expression of the quantity of virus in a given volume. It is often expressed as viral particles, or infectious particles per mL depending on the type of assay. A higher viral burden, titre, or viral load often correlates with the severity of an active viral infection. The quantity of virus / mL can be calculated by estimating the live amount of virus in an involved body fluid. For example, it can be given in RNA copies per millilitre of blood plasma. Tracking viral load is used to monitor therapy during chronic viral infections, and in immunocompromised patients such as those recovering from bone marrow or solid organ transplantation. Currently, routine testing is available for HIV-1, cytomegalovirus, hepatitis B virus, and hepatitis C virus. Viral load monitoring for HIV is of particular interest in the treatment of people with HIV, as this is continually discussed in the context of management of HIV/AIDS. A ...

HIV-1 infects gut associated lymphoid tissues (GALT) very early after transmission by multiple routes. The infected GALT consequently serves as the major reservoir for HIV-1 infection and could constantly shed HIV-1 and CD4+ T cells into the intestinal lumen. To examine this hypothesis, we monitored HIV-1 RNA/DNA and CD4 mRNA in fecal samples of chronically infected subjects with and without antiretroviral therapy (ART). We compared this to levels of HIV-1 RNA/DNA in urine and blood from the same subjects. Our results show that HIV-1 DNA, RNA and CD4 mRNA were detected in 8%, 19% and 31% respectively, of feces samples from infected subjects with detectable plasma viral load, and were not detected in any of subjects on ART with undetectable plasma viral load. In urine samples, HIV-1 DNA was detected in 24% of infected subjects with detectable plasma viral load and 23% of subjects on ART with undetectable plasma viral load. Phylogenetic analysis of the envelope sequences of HIV-1 revealed distinct virus

Antiretroviral (ARV) regimens currently recommended for initial therapy of patients with HIV have a high likelihood of achieving and maintaining plasma HIV RNA levels below the lower limits of detection (LLOD) of currently used assays (see What to Start). Patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART) who do not achieve this treatment goal or who experience virologic rebound can develop resistance mutations to one or more components of their regimen. Many patients with detectable viral loads have challenges adhering to treatment. Depending on their treatment histories, some of these patients may have minimal or no drug resistance; others may have extensive resistance. Managing patients with extensive resistance is complex and usually requires consultation with an HIV expert. This section of the guidelines defines virologic failure in patients on ART and discusses strategies to manage ART in these individuals.. Virologic Response Definitions The following definitions are used in this section to ...

Serum HCV RNA values were measured during the clinical trials using the Roche COBAS AmpliPrep/COBAS Taqman HCV test (version 2.0) with a lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) of 15 IU/mL (except for SURVEYOR-1 and SURVEYOR-2 which used the Roche COBAS TaqMan real-time reverse transcriptase-PCR (RT-PCR) assay v. 2.0 with an LLOQ of 25 IU/mL). The primary endpoint across all clinical trials was sustained virologic response (SVR12), defined as HCV RNA less than LLOQ at 12 weeks after the end of treatment. Relapse was defined as HCV RNA ≥ LLOQ after end-of-treatment response among subjects who completed treatment. Subjects with missing HCV RNA data, such as those who discontinued due to an adverse event, subject withdrawal or were lost to follow-up, were counted as SVR12 failures ...

The performance of the point-of-care Xpert HIV-1 viral load assay was evaluated against the Abbott RealTime PCR m2000rt system. A total of 96 plasma specimens ranging from 2.5 log10 copies ml-1 to 4.99 log10 copies ml-1 and proficiency testing panel specimens were used. Precision and accuracy were checked using the Pearson correlation co-efficient test and Bland-Altman analysis.. RESULTS ...

The number of people living with HIV/AIDS in the Peoples Democratic Republic of Laos (also known as Laos PDR) is estimated at 13,600 and the number of people in need of antiretroviral therapy at 8,000. Today, around 3,200 HIV infected individuals receive treatment in seven centres throughout the country. Until recently, antiretroviral treated patients were followed-up only on the basis of clinical and immunological criteria. In 2009 the Centre dInfectiologie Christophe Mérieux in Laos PDR (CICML) signed a collaboration agreement with the national Centre of HIV/AIDS/STI (CHAS) for the implementation of HIV viral load testing (VLT) in the country, leading to the technological transfer of the ANRS generic assay (HIV Generic charge virale, Biocentric, Bandol, France). The introduction of HIV VLT has been accompanied through national HIV workshops every 6 months. From June 2009 to December 2011, HIV viral load has been measured in 1,782 antiretoviral-treated patients. Of these, 97% were on reverse

This week, results from the PARTNER study are the strongest evidence yet that having an undetectable viral load prevents HIV transmission.

BACKGROUND: HLA class-I alleles differ in their ability to control HIV replication through cell-mediated immune responses. No consistent associations have been found between the breadth of Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes (CTL) responses and the control of HIV-1, and it is unknown whether the size or distribution of the viral proteome-wide epitope repertoire, i.e., the intrinsic ability to present fewer, more or specific viral epitopes, could affect clinical markers of disease progression. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We used an epitope prediction model to identify all epitope motifs in a set of 302 HIV-1 full-length proteomes according to each individuals HLA (Human Leukocyte Antigen) genotype. The epitope repertoire, i.e., the number of predicted epitopes per HIV-1 proteome, varied considerably between HLA alleles and thus among individual proteomes. In a subgroup of 270 chronically infected individuals, we found that lower viral loads and higher CD4 counts were associated with a larger predicted epitope

Background: For HIV-infected patients, retention in care is critical for viral suppression; however, there is no optimal method for measuring retention. The impact of differential viral load monitoring frequency on sustained viral suppression is also understudied. The research conducted intended to validate and expand on previous findings concerning the effects of different retention measures and viral load monitoring patterns on viral suppression using data from the DC Cohort, a longitudinal, observational study of HIV-infected patients receiving care at 13 clinics in Washington, DC. Methods: We calculated and compared the following retention measures: no 6-month gaps in care, 4-month visit constancy, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) measure defined as ,2 visits at least 90 days apart in a 12-month period, and the Health and Human Services (HHS) measure defined as ,1 visit in each 6-month interval in 24-months with ,60 days between visits. The average amount of time between consecutive viral ...

In a study conducted at the University of Montreal, in collaboration with the Clinique medicale du Quartier Latin de Montreal, researchers found that in patients with HIV, a persistent low viral load (specifically defined as between 50 and 199 copies of viral RNA per milliliter of blood) carries a much higher risk than previously thought. The study was based on data pulled from the files of 1,860 patients living with HIV/AIDS over the course of 12 years; nearly 94 percent were male. In HIV treatment, the goal is to reduce a patients viral load to below the detectable limit, less than 50 copies/ml. The higher a patients viral load, the more the immune system is compromised, which causes the progression of HIV to AIDS. The development of anti-retroviral drug regimens in 1996, which inhibits the spread and increase of the virus, was what finally turned HIV/AIDS from an imminent death sentence into, largely, a chronic health condition. In some cases, HIV infection is resistant to treatment; this ...

Simon Collins, HIV i-Base. Updated results from the PADDLE study were a highlight of AIDS 2016 and were presented as an oral late-breaker on the last day. [1]. This was a small (n=20) single-arm open label study in treatment-naive participants that was notable for reporting at the EACS 2015 conference that rapid viral suppression to ,50 copies by week 8 that was maintained to 24 weeks. Although median baseline viral load was low (24,000 copies/mL [IQR: 12,000 to 37,000]), four people were ,100,000 copies/mL. [2]. The results at week 48 were similar, with suppression maintained to ,50 copies/mL throughout in 18/20 participants.. Low level detectable viral load was reported at week 36 in one participant (at 246 copies/mL) who resuppressed without a change in treatment (even though the study protocol recommended changing).. One participant committed suicide linked to severe stress and emotional trauma that was not judged related to the study medications.. ...

Abbott RealTime HBV Assay Is More Sensitive in Detection of Low Viral Load and Little Impacted by Drug Resistant Mutation in Chronic Hepatitis B Patients under Nucleotside Analogues Therapy. . Biblioteca virtual para leer y descargar libros, documentos, trabajos y tesis universitarias en PDF. Material universiario, documentación y tareas realizadas por universitarios en nuestra biblioteca. Para descargar gratis y para leer online.

People living with HIV can now feel confident that if they have an undetectable viral load and take their HIV medications properly, they will not pass on HIV to sexual partners.. Having an undetectable viral load not only stops HIV being passed on through sex, it is also good for your health. In Ireland, and worldwide, it is now recommended that everyone diagnosed with HIV starts treatment as soon as possible. The benefits of this, such as keeping your immune system strong and preventing illness, means that people can expect to live long, healthy lives.. It also means that if you keep taking your HIV medication properly, and keep your viral load undetectable, you can have sex without the worry that you might pass HIV on to your sexual partners.. Do I have to use condoms? The science is very clear about the risk of passing on HIV through sex: if you are HIV-positive with an undetectable viral load and are having sex without condoms with someone who is HIV-negative, the risk of passing on HIV is ...

Background: Routine monitoring of HIV-1 Viral Load (VL) is important in patients on Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) management. Access to HIV VL remains ..

Survey results demonstrated that both physicians and treatment-experienced HIV patients view reaching an undetectable viral load and increasing CD4 cells as very important to successful treatment. More than 80% of patients surveyed and 57% of their physicians view reaching an undetectable viral load as very important to successful treatment. Both patients (88%) and physicians (55%) view significantly increased CD4 cells as very important to successful treatment.. Physicians tend to underestimate their patients willingness to use and comply with an injectable antiretroviral medication. A majority (79%) of patients said that they would be willing to try an injectable medication if it suppressed the virus and gave them more energy, and only 20% of physicians reported having major reservations about prescribing this type of medication. Overall, 68% of physicians surveyed reported minor or major reservations about prescribing an injectable medication, and the large majority (90%) of these physicians ...

This brief highlights the current scenario of policies and programmes related to point-of-care viral load testing among pregnant and breastfeeding women living with HIV. In many countries, viral load policies are not differentiated for pregnant and breastfeeding women despite evidence that point-of-care viral load testing is helpful for this population. Same-day results for pregnant and breastfeeding women can help ensure timely initiation of ART, improved rates of viral suppression and retention in care to support efforts of preventing vertical transmission of HIV.. ...

Sexually transmitted infections apparently have a minimal effect on the HIV viral load of those who are taking antiretrovirals for the virus.

Low-level HIV viral load, above the limit of detection, is an important warning signal for future treatment failure and World Health Organization guidelines on spotting treatment failure need to be revised to encourage greater vigilance and swifter action by healthcare providers in lower- and middle-income settings, investigators report in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.. The study, carried out by Annemarie Wensing and colleagues at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands and University of Witwatersrand in South Africa, looked at the relationship between having a detectable viral load below 1000 copies/ml after at least six months on antiretroviral treatment and the subsequent risk of treatment failure - a virological rebound above 1000 copies/ml that should lead to a switch in treatment. In its 2016 antiretroviral treatment guidelines for lower- and middle-income settings, the World Health Organization (WHO) did not recommend any action should be taken in cases where a person has a ...

At Retrovirus, Abbott Labs reported an analysis of their large phase 3 study 863 in treatment-naive patients comparing nelfinavir to Kaletra. Their data suggest lower baseline CD4 and higher viral load are relevant in achieving durable viral suppression. Their data also suggests that using a more potent regimen can improve chances of achieving durable suppression, particularly if baseline CD4 is low & baseline viral load is high. The higher the viral load and the lower the CD4 count the greater the risk of not achieving durable viral suppression. They reported that if therapy is delayed using Kaletra improved the chance of achieving durable viral suppression. They found that if delaying therapy using nelfinavir can result in less capacity to achieve durable viral suppression. Last year Dupont reported findings with efavirenz on when to begin therapy, suggesting similarly regarding the effect of using a potent regimen ...

Assessment and Diagnostic Methods. Confirmation of HIV antibodies is done using enzyme immunoassay(EIA; formerly enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay [ELISA]), Western blot assay, and viral load tests such as target amplification methods.. Medical Management. Currently there is no cure for HIV or AIDS, although researchers continue to work on developing a vaccine. Treatment decisions for an individual patient are based on three factors: HIV RNA (viral load), CD4 T-cell counts, and the clinical condition of the patient (severity of symptoms and patients commitment to participate in lifelong therapy). The goals of treatment are maximal and durable suppression of viral load, restoration and/or preservation of immunologic function, improvement of quality of life, and reduction of HIV-related morbidity and mortality. To determine and evaluate the treatment plan, viral load testing is recommended at diagnosis and then 3 to 4 months thereafter in the untreated person. CD4+ T-cell counts should be ...

In this study, Garrett et al report on their early clinical experience evaluating the point-of-care Xpert® HIV-1 VL assay, which is processed on the GeneXpert® System (Cepheid, Sunnydale, California, USA) against the gold-standard Roche Taqman version 2 assay (Roche Diagnostics, Switzerland). The Xpert® HIV-1 VL is a fully automated real-time molecular cartridge-based assay with a linear range of 40 to 10 million copies/ml of HIV RNA, and can be run in a clinical setting providing a result within 90 minutes.. Investigating samples from 42 women participating in the CAPRISA 002 Acute Infection Study, Xpert® HIV-1 VL correlated strongly with the Taqman assay across the VL spectrum (Spearman ?=0.94, p,0.001, Figure 1). A Bland-Altman plot showed a mean difference between Taqman and Xpert® results of -0.10 log copies/ml (95% limits of agreement -0.59 to 0.39) with slightly higher values on Xpert®. Importantly, only one woman was misclassified using a VL threshold of 1000 copies/ml, the current ...

We got some great news from the U of M on the First Mates recovery this afternoon. She seems to be recovering her health across the board, which we suspected by watching her stamina and coloring improve greatly since her last release from the hospital. She has less need for the oxygen -- in fact, she may not need it at all, but we have to wait for another clinic visit to determine that. But the real news came from the lab reports.. As you know, the FM has suffered from CMV and BK viral infections; the former can be deadly, and the latter killed her transplanted kidney. Today we heard that her viral load on CMV as dropped to 100, just above a negative result. It means that the antivirals have done their work. We also found out that the BK viral load results are negative, which means we can start working to get her back on the transplant list. Her hemolytic anemia appears to be resolving itself, which means the bone marrow has shaken off the affects of the campath. Her hemoglobin levels have ...

Abstract. Nucleos(t)ide analogues (NAs) lead to viral suppression and undetectable hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA in some individuals infected with HBV, but the rate of virological rebound has been unknown in such patients. We examined the prevalence of virological rebound of HBV DNA among NA-treated patients with undetectable HBV DNA. We retrospectively analyzed 303 consecutive patients [158 entecavir (ETV)- and 145 lamivudine (LAM)-treated] who achieved HBV DNA negativity, defined as HBV DNA , 3.7 log IU/mL for at least 3 months. They were followed up and their features, including their rates of viral breakthrough, were determined. Viral rebound after HBV DNA negativity was not observed in the ETV-group. Viral rebound after HBV DNA negativity occurred in 38.7% of 62 HBe antigen-positive patients in the LAM-group. On multivariate analysis, age was an independent factor for viral breakthrough among these patients (P = 0.035). Viral rebound after HBV DNA negativity occurred in 29.1% of 79 HBe ...

TY - JOUR. T1 - Evaluation of the Xpert HCV Viral Load Finger-Stick point-of-care assay. AU - Lamoury, Francois M. J.. AU - Bajis, Sahar. AU - Hajarizadeh, Behzad. AU - Marshall, Alison D.. AU - Martinello, Marianne. AU - Ivanova, Elena. AU - Catlett, Beth. AU - Mowat, Yasmin. AU - Marks, Philippa. AU - Amin, Janaki. AU - Smith, Julie. AU - Ezard, Nadine. AU - Cock, Victoria. AU - Hayllar, Jeremy. AU - Persing, David H.. AU - Kleman, Marika. AU - Cunningham, Philip. AU - Dore, Gregory J.. AU - Applegate, Tanya L.. AU - Grebely, Jason. AU - LiveRLife Study Group. PY - 2018/5/25. Y1 - 2018/5/25. N2 - Point-of-care hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA testing is advantageous, enabling diagnosis of active infection in a single visit. This study evaluated the sensitivity and specificity of the Xpert HCV Viral Load Finger-Stick assay (Xpert HCV VL FS) for HCV RNA detection (finger-stick) and the Xpert HCV Viral Load assay (plasma) compared with the Abbott RealTime HCV Viral Load assay by venepuncture. Plasma ...

Background. Increased monocyte activation and intestinal damage have been shown to be predictive for the increased morbidity and mortality observed in treated people living with human immunodeficiency virus (PLHIV). Methods. A cross-sectional analysis of cellular and soluble markers of monocyte activation, coagulation, intestinal damage, and inflammation in plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of PLHIV with suppressed plasma viremia on combination antiretroviral therapy and age and demographically comparable HIV-negative individuals participating in the Comorbidity in Relation to AIDS (COBRA) cohort and, where appropriate, age-matched blood bank donors (BBD). Results. People living with HIV, HIV-negative individuals, and BBD had comparable percentages of classical, intermediate, and nonclassical monocytes. Expression of CD163, CD32, CD64, HLA-DR, CD38, CD40, CD86, CD91, CD11c, and CX3CR1 on monocytes did not differ between PLHIV and HIV-negative individuals, but it differed significantly from ...

Objectives: Rapid human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) antibody tests, routinely used for diagnosis in adults and older children in resource-limited settings (RLS), do not detect early HIV infections prior to seroconversion or when antibody levels are still low. Nucleic acid amplification to detect HIV-1 RNA is the most sensitive method for acute HIV infection diagnosis, but is costly. We therefore investigated HIV- 1 RNA testing of pooled dried blood spots (DBS) to diagnose acute HIV infection. Design: Laboratory-based investigation. Methods: DBS were collected from HIV-1 Voluntary Counselling and Testing (HVCT) clients who tested negative on the Advanced QualityTM HIV antibody rapid test. DBS samples from five participants were pooled and tested on the COBAS AmpliPrep/COBAS TaqMan HIV-1 (CAP/CTM) Test v2. Individual DBS were tested when pools tested positive (, 200 RNA copies/ml). Acute infection was confirmed by HIV viral load testing, two fourth-generation HIV serological assays, and ...

Purpose: The once-daily nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor backbone of tenofovir and emtricitabine has been proven effective in combination with efavirenz and protease inhibitors in large clinical trials. This study evaluated tenofovir and emtricitabine in combination with nevirapine. Methods: Viral load was assessed at baseline, Day 3, and Day 7 in addition to Weeks 2, 4, 8, 12, 16, 24, 32, 40, 48, 60, 72, and 84 in 10 antiretroviral-naïve patients participating in an open-label clinical trial of tenofovir and emtricitabine once daily in combination with nevirapine twice daily. Results: All patients achieved viral decay with this combination. Two patients discontinued prior to virologic suppression, one with a viral load of 55 copies/mL. Virologic suppression (Conclusion: In this study of treatmentnaïve patients, the combination of tenofovir and emtricitabine plus twice-daily nevirapine produced sustained viral load decay in patients including those with a high baseline ...

High HIV viral load (VL |100,000 cp/ml) is associated with increased HIV transmission risk, faster progression to AIDS, and reduced response to some antiretroviral regimens. To better understand factors associated with high VL, we examined characteristics of patients presenting for treatment in Hanoi, Vietnam. We examined baseline data from the Viral Load Monitoring in Vietnam Study, a randomized controlled trial of routine VL monitoring in a population starting antiretroviral therapy (ART) at a clinic in Hanoi. Patients with prior treatment failure or ART resistance were excluded. Characteristics examined included demographics, clinical and laboratory data, and substance use. Logistic regression was used to calculate crude and adjusted odds ratios (aOR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). Out of 636 patients, 62.7% were male, 72.9% were ≥30 years old, and 28.3% had a history of drug injection. Median CD4 was 132 cells/mm3, and 34.9% were clinical stage IV. Active cigarette smoking was reported by

We evaluated a low-cost virological failure assay (VFA) on plasma and dried blood spot (DBS) specimens from HIV-1 infected patients attending an HIV clinic in Harare. The results were compared to the performance of the ultrasensitive heat-denatured p24 assay (p24). The COBAS AmpliPrep/COBAS TaqMan HIV-1 test, version 2.0, served as the gold standard. Using a cutoff of 5,000 copies/mL, the plasma VFA had a sensitivity of 94.5% and specificity of 92.7% and was largely superior to the VFA on DBS (sensitivity = 61.9%; specificity = 99.0%) or to the p24 (sensitivity = 54.3%; specificity = 82.3%) when tested on 302 HIV treated and untreated patients. However, among the 202 long-term ART-exposed patients, the sensitivity of the VFA decreased to 72.7% and to 35.7% using a threshold of 5,000 and 1,000 RNA copies/mL, respectively. We show that the VFA (either on plasma or on DBS) and the p24 are not reliable to monitor long-term treated, HIV-1 infected patients. Moreover,

The uncertain etiology of HIV viral load (VL) blips may lead to increased use of clinical resources. We evaluated the association of self-reported adherence (SRA) and antiretroviral (ART) drug levels on blip occurrence in US Military HIV Natural History Study (NHS) participants who initiated the single-tablet regimen efavirenz/emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (EFV/FTC/TDF). ART-naïve NHS participants started on EFV/FTC/TDF between 2006 and 2013 who achieved VL suppression (|50 copies/mL) within 12 months and had available SRA and stored plasma samples were included. Participants with viral blips were compared with those who maintained VL suppression without blips. Untimed EFV plasma levels were evaluated on consecutive blip and non-blip dates by high performance liquid chromatography, with a level ≥1 mcg/mL considered therapeutic. SRA was categorized as ≥85 or |85 %. Descriptive statistics were performed for baseline characteristics and univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazard

TY - JOUR. T1 - Viral-load and B-lymphocyte monitoring of EBV reactivation after allogeneic hemopoietic SCT in children. AU - Faraci, M.. AU - Caviglia, I.. AU - Morreale, G.. AU - Lanino, E.. AU - Cuzzubbo, D.. AU - Giardino, S.. AU - Di Marco, E.. AU - Cirillo, C.. AU - Scuderi, F.. AU - Dallorso, S.. AU - Terranova, P.. AU - Moroni, C.. AU - Castagnola, E.. PY - 2010/6. Y1 - 2010/6. N2 - EBV-associated post transplant lymphoproliferative disease (EBV-PTLD) is a life-threatening complication that may occur after hemopoietic SCT. We prospectively screened 80 children on a weekly basis using nested quantitative PCR to evaluate EBV genome copies. EBV viral load AB - EBV-associated post transplant lymphoproliferative disease (EBV-PTLD) is a life-threatening complication that may occur after hemopoietic SCT. We prospectively screened 80 children on a weekly basis using nested quantitative PCR to evaluate EBV genome copies. EBV viral load KW - EBV-PCR viral load. KW - EBV-PTLD. KW - rituximab. UR - ...

Thank you for your kind comments about the site. As far as your viral load goes, when it gets that high, the test becomes imprecise, and I would not read anything into a variability between 231,000...

Viral RNA load in the nasopharyngeal swabs peaked early at median 7.56 (range 6.19-10.56) log10 copies/mL and decreased over time (p,0.001 for trend) (Figure, panel A). The positivity of the specimens was 75% during week 2 and 55% during week 3 (Appendix Table 2). In comparison, the median initial fecal RNA load was 7.68 (range ,4.10-10.27) log10 copies/mL and remained steadily high (p = 0.148 for trend) for ,3 weeks (Figure, panel B). Fecal positivity remained ,80%. The median RNA load in fecal samples was significantly higher than that for nasopharyngeal swab specimens during week 2 (7.26 vs. 6.19 log10 copies/mL; p = 0.006) and week 3 (7.61 versus 5.49 log10 copies/mL; p = 0.006). Except for 1 case, the RNA load in saliva declined rapidly with time (p = 0.003 for trend) (Figure, panel C). Positivity in saliva samples was 80% in week 1 but dropped sharply to 33% in week 2 and 11% in week 3.. We collected urine specimens from the 12 patients after a median of 3 (range 0-8) days and plasma ...

EARLIER THIS YEAR, the Swiss National AIDS Commission sparked a global controversy when it released a provocative statement about viral load and HIV transmission. The Swiss commission said that a person with HIV/AIDS (PHA) would be sexually non-infectious if that person: a) is taking highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) with excellent adherence, b) has an undetectable viral load for the past six consecutive months, c) is in a stable and monogamous relationship and d) neither partner has a sexually transmitted infection (STI). The statement was an expert opinion based on a small number of studies in heterosexual people, but the implications were huge. If true, the statement seemed to say that some people with HIV might not need to use condoms every time they have sex.. The Swiss statement came in response to a growing climate of criminalization, in which PHAs are being accused of endangering the lives of others through unprotected sexual relations. If scientific evidence showed that ...

The aim of our study was to investigate the physical state and the viral load of HPV-16 in tonsillar cancer and to correlate these findings with clinical outcome. To distinguish between integrated and episomal forms of HPV, 22 fresh-frozen tonsillar cancer samples were analysed by a method based on …

Male circumcision provides men with approximately 60% protection from acquiring HIV infection via heterosexual sex, and has become a key component of HIV prevention efforts in sub-Saharan Africa. Possible mechanisms for this protection include removal of the inflammatory anaerobic sub-preputial environment and the high concentration of Langerhans cells on the inside of the foreskin, both believed to promote local vulnerability to HIV infection. In people who do acquire HIV, viral load is partially determined by infecting partner viral load, potentially mediated by size of infecting inoculum. By removing a portal for virion entry, prior male circumcision could decrease infecting inoculum and thus viral load in men who become HIV-infected, conferring the known associated benefits of slower progression to disease and decreased infectiousness. We performed an as-treated analysis of plasma samples collected under a randomized controlled trial of male circumcision for HIV prevention, comparing men based on

There are limited viral load (VL) data available from programs implementing Option B+, lifelong antiretroviral treatment (ART) to all HIV-positive pregnant and postpartum women, in resource-limited settings. Extent of viral suppression from a prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV program in Rwanda was assessed among women enrolled in the Kigali Antiretroviral and Breastfeeding Assessment for the Elimination of HIV (Kabeho) Study. ARV drug resistance testing was conducted on women with VL|2000 copies/ml. In April 2013-January 2014, 608 pregnant or early postpartum HIV-positive women were enrolled in 14 facilities. Factors associated with detectable enrollment VL (|20 copies/ml) were examined using generalized estimating equations. The most common antiretroviral regimen (56.7%, 344/607) was tenofovir/lamivudine/efavirenz. Median ART duration was 13.5 months (IQR 3.0-48.8); 76.1% of women were on ART at first antenatal visit. Half of women (315/603) had undetectable RNA-PCR VL and 84.6% (510)

Background.Monitoring of antiretroviral treatment (ART) with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) viral loads, as recommended in industrialized countries, is rarely available in resource-limited settings because of the high costs and stringent requirements for storage and transport of plasma. Dried blood spots (DBS) can be an alternative to plasma, but the use of DBS has not been assessed under field conditions in rural Africa. The present study investigates the performance of DBS in HIV viral load monitoring of patients who received ART in rural Tanzania.. Patients and Methods.From November 2007 through June 2008, parallel plasma and DBS specimens were obtained from patients who received ART at Haydom Lutheran Hospital in rural Tanzania. DBS specimens were stored at tropical room temperature for 3 weeks before testing with the NucliSENS EasyQ HIV-1 v1.2 assay. Results obtained with DBS were compared with results obtained with use of a gold-standard plasma assay.. Results.Ninety-eight plasma-DBS ...

Use PCR technology to facilitate HLA-B*5701 screening and better manage HIV patients who could potentially have hypersensitivity reactions to abacavir

To end the HIV epidemic, prevention of new HIV infections will be contingent on preventing at-risk individuals from acquiring HIV and supporting people living with HIV in achieving and sustaining viral suppression throughout their lifetime. The underlying motivation for this dissertation is the recent evidence that new HIV infections can be prevented when people living with HIV achieve and maintain viral suppression. In response, three studies were conducted. The goal of this dissertation was to advance our understanding of HIV viral suppression patterns over time among clinically engaged adults living with HIV and examine current limitations in viral suppression monitoring. First, a systematic review evaluated the existing literature for evidence of longitudinal assessments of viral suppression among people living with HIV. Among 896 publications identified during the database search, 50 publications met the study criteria and were included in the review. Among these studies, 78% were implemented in

By: TP News Date: 3/16/2020 10:50:32 AM. Jammu:. One person in Jammu and Kashmir with travel history Saudi Arabia has reported high viral load, a senior official said.. Rohit Kansal,Principal Secretary Planning, Jammu and Kashmir said, One more person in the Union Territory (UT) with history of travel to Saudi Arabia has reported high viral load. He has been kept in isolation. Confirmation awaited. ...

We sought to determine the consequences of stopping highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in a group of 41 HIV-infected individuals with undetectable HIV viral loads and CD4+ counts greater than 500 cells per microliter for 6 months or more. Clinical and laboratory parameters were monitored, as was the time to HAART reinitiation. Three months after HAART interruption, the median CD4+ count declined by 162 cells per microliter and HIV viral load increased by 24,000 copies per milliliter. Over the next year, CD4+ counts continued to decrease by an average of 11 cells per microliter per 3-month intervals. In contrast, HIV viral loads remained stable over the same period. Five of 7 patients (71%) with elevated cholesterol levels and 6 of 13 patients (46%) with elevated triglyceride levels had these values normalize after stopping HAART. After a median of 21 months follow-up, 26 of 41 patients (63%) have restarted HAART. Patients with Centers for Disease Control (CDC) HIV/AIDS C classification ...

TY - JOUR. T1 - Persistent immune activation in chronic HIV infection: do any interventions work?. AU - Rajasuriar, Reena. AU - Khoury, Gabriela. AU - Kamarulzaman, Adeeba Binti. AU - French, Martyn A. AU - Cameron, Paul Urquhart. AU - Lewin, Sharon R. PY - 2013. Y1 - 2013. N2 - Persistent immune activation (IA) is a hallmark of chronic HIV infection. IA has been associated with poor CD4 T-cell recovery, non-AIDS defining illnesses and mortality during combination antiretroviral therapy (cART). Measures of chronic immune activation, namely T-cell activation and more recently monocyte activation and plasma inflammatory and thrombotic biomarkers, have all been shown to remain elevated despite years of suppressive cART. Here we review recent clinical trials and therapeutic approaches targeted to reduce persistent IA in HIV patients and discuss the impact of each of these approaches on clinically relevant end-points.. AB - Persistent immune activation (IA) is a hallmark of chronic HIV infection. IA ...

Association of Body Mass Index, Waist-Hip Ratio, Zinc, Copper, CD4+ T Cells Count and Viral Load in Early HIV Infection in ART Naïve HIV Infected Adults in Taita Taveta County, Kenya

Looking for online definition of viral set point in the Medical Dictionary? viral set point explanation free. What is viral set point? Meaning of viral set point medical term. What does viral set point mean?

Quantitative Test for Rapid Measurement of Hepatitis C virus Viral Load and confirmation of HCV infection delivers on-demand results in less than 2 hours SUNNYVALE, Calif., April 15, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Cepheid (NASDAQ: CPHD) today announced that Xpert® HCV Viral Load, a quantitative test that provides on-demand molecular testing for confirmation of infection and monitoring of Hepatitis C virus (HCV), has achieved CE-IVD status under the European Directive on In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices. The objective of treatment for HCV is for a patient to have sustained virologic response, defined as undetectable HCV RNA by a sensitive test 12 or 24 weeks after the end of treatment, depending on the type of anti-HCV therapy used.1 Xpert HCV Viral Load is intended for use as an aid in the management of HCV infected patients undergoing antiviral therapy. The test can be used to measure HCV RNA levels at baseline and during treatment, and to help predict sustained and nonsustained virological responses ...

Objective We monitored a large‐scale implementation of the Simple Amplification‐Based Assay semi‐quantitative viral load test for HIV‐1 version I (SAMBA I Viral Load = SAMBA I VL) within Médecins Sans Frontières HIV programmes in Malawi and Uganda, to assess its performance and operational feasibility. Methods Descriptive analysis of routine programme data between August 2013 and December 2016. The dataset included samples collected for VL monitoring and tested using SAMBA I VL in five HIV clinics in Malawi (four peripheral health centres and one district hospital), and one HIV clinic in a regional referral hospital in Uganda. SAMBA I VL was used for VL testing in patients who had been receiving ART for between 6 months and ten years, to determine whether plasma VL was above or below 1000 copies/mL of HIV‐1, reflecting ART failure or efficacy. Randomly selected samples were quantified with commercial VL assays. SAMBA I instruments and test performance, site throughput, and delays in ...

Study 907 was a 48-week Phase III, double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial of Viread 300 mg added to a stable background regimen of antiretroviral agents in 550 treatment-experienced HIV patients in North America, Europe and Australia. To be eligible for the study, patients had to have an HIV RNA level of 400 to 10,000 copies/mL (a measure of the amount of HIV in their blood) and have received stable antiretroviral therapy for at least eight weeks prior to entering the study. At baseline, patients had a mean HIV RNA level of 3.36 log(10) copies/mL, a mean CD4 cell count of 427 cells/mm(3) and had received a mean of 5.4 years of prior antiretroviral therapy. Genotypic analysis of resistance mutations at baseline revealed a high prevalence of existing antiretroviral resistance, with 94 percent of patients exhibiting resistance to nucleoside analogue reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs), 58 percent to protease inhibitors (PIs) and 48 percent to non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase ...

When a person living with HIV has an undetectable viral load, there is no risk of HIV transmission during sex. Providing the partner living with HIV has an undetectable viral load and neither of you have any sexually transmitted infections (STIs), sex without a condom is fine.. If you or your partner have a detectable viral load, it is important to discuss conception options that reduce or remove risk of transmission during sex to you/your partner and baby. Before deciding not to use condoms, get advice from your HIV healthcare team so that they can confirm what would work best for you. This may include the HIV-negative partner taking PrEP. PrEP reduces HIV transmission and is safe to take during pregnancy and breastfeeding.. Everyone planning a pregnancy - whether or not they have HIV - is advised to take a daily folic acid supplement whilst trying to conceive and for the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. Folic acid (vitamin B9) helps cells in the body to develop. It is difficult to get enough ...

Abstract:Background: Few large projects have evaluated the factors that influence the level of HIV RNA (viral load) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) over time. Persistent HIV RNA in the central nervous system (CNS) during ART has implications for HIV eradication. We evaluated the correlates of CSF viral load in 413 multiply sampled subjects who were taking ART at all visits. Methods: All subjects participated in CHARTER, a 6-site, US cohort. Four hundred and thirteen subjects underwent venous and lumbar puncture every 6 months, were assessed at least 3 times, and took ART at all visits (N = 2207). HIV RNA levels were measured by commercial RT-PCR (lower limit of quantitation [LLQ] 50 copies/mL). Other lab data were measured by routine clinical methods. ART distribution into the CNS was estimated by the 2010 CNS penetration-effectiveness (CPE) method. ART adherence was estimated by the ACTG 4-day method. The analysis used longitudinal mixed effects logistic regression. Correlation within subjects was ...

A historic decision was issued unanimously by the 2nd Joint Court of Athens, explicitly adopting for the first time the message of the scientific community which states that a person living with HIV and who has undetectable virus load is untransmittable.. More specifically, after the completion of the hearing process on 10.11.2017, the Court acquitted an accused who was sued by a partner, with whom he maintained an occasional sexual relationship, on the grounds of him trying to transmit to her the HIV virus through an alleged unprotected sexual encounter. Additionally, the Court recognized as a non-incriminating element the decision of the accused not to reveal his seropositivity to his occasional sexual partner, considering that it was critical for his acquittal or guilt to be the fact that he took the necessary precautions and treatment, so that a third person is not at risk of having sex with him.. Given that the accused received stable treatment and during the indicative time his viral load ...

The study population was approximately 60% female, had median CD4 counts of between 322 cells/mm3 and 349 cells/mm3. Approximately 20% had a viral load above 100,000 copies/ml.. Intent-to-treat analysis showed no significant difference between the three combinations in the proportion with viral load below 50 copies/ml at week 48 (TDF/emtricitabine/dolutegravir 85%, TAF/emtricitabine/dolutegravir 84%, TDF/emtricitabine/efavirenz 79%).. Age and employment status were strongly associated with viral suppression, said Venter. Whereas very high rates of viral suppression were seen in older people in employment, the rate of viral suppression in young unemployed people was little more than 60%, reflecting the structural factors that affect viral suppression and engagement in care in South Africa.. Virological resuppression was common for those who experienced virological failure during the study. In most cases, virological failure consisted of viral rebound below 1000 copies/ml but virological ...

Five methods for the assessment of plasma viral load (VL) were evaluated in 103 seropositive patients infected with various subtypes of HIV-1. The methods included three RNA-based assays (Amplicor Monitor 1.5, Quantiplex version 2.0, NucliSens), one ultrasensitive reverse transcriptase (PERT) assay and one boosted p24 antigen (Ag) enzyme immunoassay (EIA). Subtyping was based on sequencing in env. The sensitivities were, in decreasing order, Amplicor | PERT | p24 Ag | NucliSens | Quantiplex. The low sensitivity of NucliSens was related to the missing of several non-B (A, E, F, G) or recombinant strains, whereas that of Quantiplex did not depend on subtype. In the 1 group O sample and 4 group M samples, only PERT assay or p24Ag EIA produced a positive result. In the quantitative range, correlation was best between Amplicor and Quantiplex (r = 0.8848), fair between Amplicor and NucliSens (r = 0.7064) or PERT assay (r = 0.7266), lowest between Amplicor and p24Ag EIA (r = 0.3989). Amplic