Impact of acute, oral ingestion of hypoxoside from African potato on hepatic and renal function tests in HIV infected patients on combination antiretroviral therapy.

Objectives: African potato () is used against HIV to enhance immune-function, although no studies have evaluated its use in HIV infected individuals on combination antiretroviral therapy. The study aimed to evaluate the acute effects of orally administered hypoxoside, a constituent of African potato, on the hepatic and renal function in HIV infected individuals on tenofovir disoproxil fumarate/ lamivudine/ efavirenz regimen.

Methods: This was an open-label, two-period, fixed-sequence, pre-post test study, pilot design.

Highly active anti-retroviral therapy in the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV in rural Zimbabwe during the socio-economic crisis.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in preventing mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV in breastfeeding women in rural Zimbabwe. During a severe socio-economic crisis in 2005-2007, 82 eligible HIV-positive pregnant women between 14-36 weeks gestation were initiated on HAART with AZT/3TC/nelfinavir combination therapy at a rural hospital and continued through to six months post-partum. In addition, mothers also received intrapartum single-dose nevirapine (sdNVP).