Pharmacology and immuno-virologic efficacy of once-a-day HAART in African HIV-infected children: ANRS 12103 phase II trial.

Objective: To assess 12-month survival, pharmacokinetics, immunologic and virologic efficacy, tolerance, compliance and drug resistance in HIV-infected children in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, receiving once-daily highly-active antiretroviral therapy as a combination of didanosine (DDI), lamivudine (3TC) and efavirenz (EFV).

Methods: In the ANRS 12103 open phase II trial, HIV-infected children were examined at inclusion and monthly thereafter. CD4+ T-lymphocyte (CD4) count, plasma concentration of ribonucleic acid (RNA) of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and haematologic and biochemical parameters were measured at baseline and every trimester.

Early versus deferred antiretroviral multidrug therapy in infants infected with HIV type 1.

Background: The clinical impact of early antiretroviral multidrug therapy on the risk of early-onset severe human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease has not been evaluated on a large scale.

Methods: We evaluated the risk of early-onset events associated with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), particularly the risk of encephalopathy, among infants in the French Perinatal Cohort, according to whether antiretroviral multidrug therapy was initiated before or after the age of 6 months.

Results: Of 83 HIV-infected infants born in 1996 (when HAART became available) or later, 40 received early treatment on or before the age of 6 months, and 43 received deferred multidrug therapy after the age of 6 months.

Early multitherapy including a protease inhibitor for human immunodeficiency virus type 1-infected infants.

Background: To assess tolerance and efficacy of early multitherapy including a protease inhibitor for infants perinatally infected with HIV.

Methods: Observational study of tolerance and clinical and immunovirologic evolution in HIV-infected infants treated before the age of 1 year in the French Perinatal Study.

Results: Thirty-one infants were included.

Response to treatment and disease progression linked to CD4+ T cell surface CC chemokine receptor 5 density in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 vertical infection.

The factors governing interindividual variability in disease progression among children vertically infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) remain unclear. Because it has recently been shown in infected adults that the density of CC chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5) molecules at the surface of nonactivated (human leukocyte antigen [HLA]-DR(-)) CD4+ T cells correlates with disease progression, the same correlation was sought in children. HLA-DR(-)CD4+ T cell surface CCR5 density was constant over time and correlated with the bioclinical stage and with the CD4 cell slope observed before antiretroviral treatment.