Transmission of HIV Drug Resistance and the Predicted Effect on Current First-line Regimens in Europe.

Background: Numerous studies have shown that baseline drug resistance patterns may influence the outcome of antiretroviral therapy. Therefore, guidelines recommend drug resistance testing to guide the choice of initial regimen. In addition to optimizing individual patient management, these baseline resistance data enable transmitted drug resistance (TDR) to be surveyed for public health purposes.

Isoniazid-resistant Mycobacterium kansasii in an HIV-positive patient, and possible development of immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome after initiation of highly active antiretroviral therapy: case report.

Non-tuberculous mycobacteria are rare but important causes of infection in HIV-positive individuals. A 28-year-old HIV-positive male presented with a high fever, non-productive cough, right subcostal pain, splenomegaly, a very low CD4 count, elevated C-reactive protein and erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and a normal white blood cell count. The suspicion of tuberculosis (TB) was very high, and sputum samples were positive for acid-fast bacilli.

The comparison of chronic hepatitis C treatment outcome between intravenous drug users and non-intravenous drug users.

Unlabelled: Despite the fact that the majority of prevalent and incident cases of HCV are associated with intravenous drug use (IVDU), these patients have largely been excluded from HCV care. The aim of this study was to examine the treatment outcome of chronic hepatitis C in IVDUs compared to non-IVDUs.

Patients And Methods: Patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) who initiated and completed combination antiviral therapy with pegilated interferon and ribavirin, at the Hepatology Department of the University Hospital for Infectious and Tropical Diseases in Belgrade, were retrospectively analyzed.

The prognosis of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) treated HIV infected patients in Serbia, related to the time of treatment initiation.

Background: With the introduction of highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART) an impressive improvement in patient survival and quality of life has bee observed. However, the optimal timing of initial HAART is still under consideration.

Objective: To investigate the prognosis of HAART treated patients in Serbia, related to the timing of HAART initiation.

Comparison of nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor use as part of first-line therapy in a Serbian and a UK HIV clinic.

Background: Use of dideoxynucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (dNRTIs) may lead to increased mitochondrial toxicity. We compared nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI) use as part of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in two HIV clinics: one in a low-middle income (HIV Centre Belgrade [HCB], Serbia) and one a high income (ICDC, Royal Free Hospital, London, UK) country.

Methods: Antiretroviral naïve patients starting ART from 2003 to 2005 were included.

The incidence of and risk factors for HIV-associated cognitive-motor complex among patients on HAART.

Background: While highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) allows for the considerable decline in the incidence of HIV-related opportunistic infections and tumors, its effect on treating HIV infection of the brain, such as HIV-associated dementias (HADs), remains unclear.

Methods: A cross-sectional study of consecutive series of 96 patients from the Serbian HIV/AIDS cohort, treated with HAART in our HIV unit was performed to evaluate the incidence of and risk factors for cognitive/motor complex during HAART. CD4+T cell counts and pVL values at the time of neurological evaluation were parameters of the response to HAART.

The metabolic syndrome, an epidemic among HIV-infected patients on HAART.

Background: HAART has dramatically changed the prognosis of AIDS, but has led to long-term toxicities of antiretroviral drugs. A major chronic complication is the metabolic syndrome (MS), including hyperlipidemia, lipodystrophy (LD), and impaired glucose metabolism.

Methods: A cross-sectional study of a series of 582 patients from the Serbian HIV/AIDS cohort, treated with HAART for a mean period of 3.

The prognosis of CMV retinitis among patients with AIDS in Serbia.

Background: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) end-organ diseases, including CMV retinitis, are major opportunistic events in terminal AIDS patients.

Methods: A retrospective study of 30 AIDS patients with CMV retinitis treated between 1997 and 2007 in Serbia was conducted to examine the prognosis and factors associated with survival.

Results: Eighteen (60%) patients survived the mean follow-up period of 46.

The prevalence and risk of hepatitis flares in a Serbian cohort of HIV and HCV co-infected patients treated with HAART.

Despite substantial benefits of HAART treatment of HIV-infected patients, cumulative long-term toxicity, including drug-induced hepatotoxicity, has emerged as an important complication. Thus, to examine the prevalence and risk of developing severe hepatic injury during HAART, we conducted a retrospective study in a cohort of 364 HIV-infected patients treated with HAART between January 1998 and May 2006, for whom data on alanine aminotransferase activity were available both before and during HAART. HCV co-infection was recorded in 35.

Incidence of acute pancreatitis and nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors usage.

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a well-known adverse effect of nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs). Therefore, we performed a prospective, cohort study to examine the incidence rates (IRs) and rate ratios (RRs) of AP for each NRTI. A total of 116 HIV patients were included in the final analysis comprising 445.

The prevalence and risk of immune restoration disease in HIV-infected patients treated with highly active antiretroviral therapy.

Background: It is becoming increasingly clear that, during successful highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), a proportion of treated patients develop opportunistic infections (OIs), referred to in this setting as immune restoration disease (IRD). We examined the risk of developing IRD in HAART-treated HIV-infected patients.

Methods: A retrospective study of a cohort including all 389 patients treated with HAART between 1 January 1998 and 31 May 2004 in our HIV unit was performed to evaluate the occurrence of and risk factors for IRD during HAART.

Oral candidiasis and seborrheic dermatitis in HIV-infected patients on highly active antiretroviral therapy.

Background: Mucocutaneous manifestations such as oral candidiasis (OC) and seborrheic dermatitis (SD) are very common HIV-related opportunistic events and are usually initial markers of immunodeficiency.

Aim: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in the regression of HIV-associated OC and SD.

Methods: In a prospective study, 120 HIV-infected patients with OC and SD were divided into two groups: HAART-treated patients (group 1, n=76) and non-HAART-treated patients (group 2, n=44).

[Systemic mixed connective tissue disease--Sharp's syndrome].

Sharp's syndrome is a systemic mixed connective tissue disease that is defined with specific ribonucleoprotein antibody (U1RNP). The key diagnostic criterion is positive antinuclear antibodies in stain form. The disease is primarily localized on joints, muscles and skin; however, there are not widely used diagnostic criteria.

HBsAg as the antigen component of circulating immune complexes in HIV-infected patients.

Seeing the same transmission pattern of HIV and HBV coinfection by these two agents is not an uncommon feature. Immunity impairment due to HIV infection can be the cause of a higher rate of HBV replication with less intensive liver damage and less effective immune response to HBV, while the pathological course in both infections involves elevated levels of circulating immune complexes (CIC). These were the reasons for us to examine the frequency of HBsAg involvement as the antigen component of circulating immune complexes formed in sera of HIV-infected patients in different stages of HIV disease.

[Pulmonary manifestations of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)].

The lungs are the principal target organ in the infectious complications of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and this predisposition to infections is not the regional manifestation of systemic immunologic deficiency induced by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) only, because HIV also affects lung's own complex system of local defense mechanisms. It was demonstrated that pulmonary host defenses were compromised by.direct infection of alveolar macrophages with HIV and decreased production of solubile factors by lymphocytes derived from bronchoalveolar lavage fluid was shown.

[Clinical spectrum of HIV infection and classification systems].

Diseases spectrum caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) manifests with a wide range of clinical symptoms, due to the involvement of different organs and systems. Patients infected with HIV may present with a spectrum of clinical manifestations ranging from asymptomatic infection to severe immunodeficiency associated with different secondary infections, tumors, or other conditions. Since 1981 when the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) was recognized and the causative agent discovered thereafter, various systems have been proposed to classify manifestations of HIV infection and AIDS definition has bean revised several times.

[Antiretroviral therapy of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)].

The unique nature of the replication cycle of the retroviruses, including HIV, offera number of possible targets for chemotherapeutic agents. These are RNA viruses which have the capacity to make DNA copies through their characteristic enzyme, reverse transcriptase, encoded in the pole region of the viral genoma. Reverse transcription is an attractive target for therapeutic intervention as this event is uniquelly associated with retroviruses.

[Diseases of digestive system in patients with AIDS].

Human immunodeficiency virus infection can affect the entire gastrointestinal tract and hepatobiliary system. Gastrointestinal abnormalities in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome are common and may relate to opportunistic inections and tumors, diseases which are usual in the anti-HIV negative population also, and disease of unknown aethiology, such as wasting syndrome and recurrent diarrhoeal illness. Diarrhoea and weight loss are found in more than 50% of patients with AIDS.

[Treatment and prophylaxis of opportunistic infections in individuals infected with HIV].

The primary causes of morbidity and mortality in persons infected with the human immunodoficiency virus are oportunistic infections. Infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) induces progressive quantitative and qualitative defects in CD4 (T helper) lymphocytes. Macrophage and monocyte function may also be impaired as a result of HIV infection.

[Neurological disorders associated with HIV infection].

Neurological diseases occur frequently in patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). There are three main groups of central nervous system (CNS) dysfunction: (1) direct effects of HIV; (2) opportunistic infections; (3) opportunistic neoplasms. On the basis of clinical characteristics it is possible to differentiate focal and diffuse pathologic alterations of CNS.

[Correlation between immunological markers and clinical course of HIV infection].

The interaction of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) with CD4 molecule, which is expressed on various human cells is the crtical event in the pathogenesis of HIV infection. Decreased number and functional anergy of CD4+ T cells, which are the most important immunoregulatory cells, cause severe immunodeficiency. Having in mind that there is a significant correlation between clinical course of HIV infection and laboratory markers it is possible to predict progression of HIV infection toward acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).

[Immunologic thrombocytopenic purpura as a clinical manifestation of HIV infection].

Immune thrombocytopenic purpura may be the sole clinical manifestation of HIV infection. Results of the treatment of 6 patients with spontaneous bleeding due to severe thrombocytopenia, are presented. In all patients immune thrombocytopenic purpura was the only clinical manifestation of HIV infection.