Scroll Up
Scroll Down
Play Play Play Play
Unregistered User
Click here if this is not your Personal Edition
 
Contact Us | Free E-Mail Updates | Journals | Register a colleague
 
 
Viral Infections
 
   
 
SEARCH   
Doctor's Guide Free CME
Medline
Congress Resource Centre
 

 EXPLORE :
   Most Read News
 All News  All News
 All Webcasts / CME  All Webcasts / CME
 All Cases  All Cases
 Congress Resource Centre  Congress Resource Centre
 All Medical Resources  All Medical Resources
 Medical  My Personal Edition



Warning | Privacy

 

 
 Recent news - Viral Infections
    Vaccine for the Prevention of Shingles Approved in Canada - (DGNews)
    FDA to Amend Natalizumab Label Based on New Cases of PML in Europe - (DGNews)
    Measles Cases on Rise in US, Refusal to Vaccinate Cited - (DGNews)
    TopAbstracts in Viral Infections 08/18/2008 - (DGNews)
    Good Long-Term Prognosis After West Nile Virus Infection - (DGNews)

    News archive

     Recent webcasts/CME - Viral Infections
      Viral Heart Disease: In Search of a Strategy
      Vaccination for Prevention of HPV Infection and its Sequelae
      Pharmacological Management of Coughs and Colds
      Cytokine Dysregulation, Viral Infections and the Origins of Childhood Asthma
      HPV Vaccine: Perspectives and Recommendations

      Webcasts/CME archive

       Recent cases - Viral Infections
        Independent Lung Ventilation in a Newborn with Respiratory Syncytial Virus Asymmetric Acute Lung Injury: A Case Report
        Human Rabies Encephalitis Following Bat Exposure: Failure of Therapeutic Coma
        Post-Poliomyelitis Syndrome: Case Report
        Mild Infectious Mononucleosis Presenting with Transient Mixed Liver Disease: Case Report with a Literature Review
        Immune Restoration Syndrome with Disseminated Penicillium marneffei and Cytomegalovirus Co- Infections in an AIDS Patient

        Cases archive
          




        my personal edition > viral infections > news
        divider

          E-Mail this DGDispatch to a colleague

        DGDispatch


        Investigative Antiviral Agent Aplaviroc Lowers Viral Load Without Inducing Global Immune Changes: Presented at ICAAC

        By Paula Moyer

        WASHINGTON, DC -- December 22, 2005 -- The investigative antiviral agent aplaviroc lowers RNA levels in patients with HIV-1 without causing changes in plasma levels of chemokines and cytokines, investigators reported here at the 45th Annual Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC).

        This finding implies that aplaviroc, which targets the cellular chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5), can treat HIV-1 without harming the immune system function, said principal investigator Kathryn Kitrinos, PhD, clinical researcher, clinical virology department, GlaxoSmithKline, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. GlaxoSmithKline funded the study.

        "Short-term administration of aplaviroc did not induce global changes in immune activation," she said during her presentation on December 17th.

        Although macrophage inflammatory protein-1 bet (MIP-1 beta) increased 1.5- to 2.5-fold temporarily after subjects received aplaviroc, levels remained the same in healthy volunteers. In HIV-positive subjects, the MIP-1 beta increase correlated with the nadir of HIV-1 RNA. After 48 hours, the levels returned to their predosing levels, she said.

        Earlier research showed promising safety results with aplaviroc. Therefore, Dr. Kitrinos and colleagues conducted their study to analyzed the potential immunological impact of the drug by assessing the levels of several chemokines and cytokines in 30 HIV-negative subjects and 40 HIV-positive subjects.

        HIV-negative subjects received either placebo or 1 of 3 doses of aplaviroc twice daily for 7 days with a 7-day follow-up period. The dose groups for these subjects were 200 mg, 600 mg, or 800 mg.

        HIV-positive subjects received either placebo or 1 of 4 dosing regiments: 200 mg 2 times daily, 200 mg twice daily, 400 mg 4 times daily, or 600 mg twice daily. These patients were treated for 10 days and followed for 14 days posttreatment.

        The investigators assessed patients' plasma chemokine and cytokine levels at baseline, steady-state, and follow-up.

        In both groups, 10 of the 11 chemokines and cytokines showed no consistent change with short-term exposure to aplaviroc when compared with placebo. The chemokines assessed included regulated on activation normal T cell expressed and secreted (RANTES), MIP-1 alpha MIP-1 beta, interleukin-8 (IL-8), membrane cofactor protein-1 (MCP-1), and T helper 1 (TH 1) and T helper 2. The cytokines consisted of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interferon-gamma, and IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, and IL-10.

        MIP-1 beta levels increased transiently, and began to return to baseline levels during the follow-up period. Dr. Kitrinos noted that despite the increase, the MIP-1 beta levels remained within the range observed in normal plasma samples.

        The findings are promising because of the lack of impact or minimal impact on plasma chemokine and TH1 and TH2 cytokine levels, she said.

        "These data suggest that aplaviroc does not induce global changes in immune activation following short-term administration," she concluded.


        [Presentation title: Minimal to No Changes in Plasma Chemokine/Cytokine Levels in HIV-Negative and HIV-Positive Subjects Following Short Term Administration of 873140. Abstract H-1097]



        E-Mail this DGDispatch to a colleague   To print, use this version






        All contents Copyright (c) 1995-2008 Doctor's Guide Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.



        The NTK initiative. Physicians helping physicians identify Need-To-Know science
           Feedback
        Please rate this article: Strongly DISAGREE...Strongly AGREE NTK logo
        Question 1 - Physicians need to become aware of this information as soon as possible. Question 2 - This information is likely to have an impact on the way physicians practice medicine.
        1
        2
        3
        4
        5
        6
        7
        Send