Combination of Antiretroviral Drugs and Radioimmunotherapy Specifically Kills Infected Cells from HIV-Infected Individuals.

Eliminating virally infected cells is an essential component of any HIV eradication strategy. Radioimmunotherapy (RIT), a clinically established method for killing cells using radiolabeled antibodies, was recently applied to target HIV-1 gp41 antigen expressed on the surface of infected cells. Since gp41 expression by infected cells is likely downregulated in patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART), we evaluated the ability of RIT to kill ART-treated infected cells using both models and lymphocytes isolated from HIV-infected subjects.

A fully human antibody to gp41 selectively eliminates HIV-infected cells that transmigrated across a model human blood brain barrier.

Objective: Many HIV patients on combined antiretroviral therapy exhibit HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders because the brain becomes a viral reservoir. There is a need for therapeutics that can enter the central nervous system (CNS) and eradicate the virus.

Design: Radiolabeled human mAb 2556 to HIV gp41 selectively kills HIV-infected cells in vivo and in vitro.

Role of nuclear medicine in neuroHIV: PET, SPECT, and beyond.

HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND) remain among the most common clinical disorders encountered in people infected with HIV despite widespread use of antiretroviral therapy. There is an enormous need for further evaluation and early diagnosis of HAND. The variety of PET agents such as FDG, C-PiB and [C]-R-PK11195 as well as SPECT agents Tc-HMPAO, I-FP-CIT and I-IBZM have been investigated for the diagnosis of HAND, for distinguishing between demented and nondemented HIV patients, for differentiation between HAND and nonHIV related dementia, as well as for assessing the influence of coinfection with the other viral pathogens on the brain functionality.

Cleft palate, bilateral external auditory canal atresia, and other midline defects associated with Diamond-Blackfan anemia: case report.

Diamond-Blackfan anemia (DBA) is associated with congenital anomalies especially of the midline. When present, facial anomalies are reminiscent of Treacher-Collins syndrome, and both DBA and Treacher-Collins syndrome are disorders of ribosomal biogenesis. Herein, we describe a female infant with multiple midline defects associated with DBA and reaffirm the absence of RPS-19 mutations in DBA patients with facial anomalies.