Publications by authors named "K Stoffels"

Despite wide availability of prevention and treatment services, including the ongoing roll-out of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), the HIV epidemic is not under control in Belgium. Hence, there is a recognized need to improve case finding and early diagnosis to curb the further spread of HIV more effectively. The objective of the present study was to improve insight into the profiles of persons recently infected with HIV-1 and on their prevention trajectory.

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Limited therapeutic options are available for patients with multidrug-resistant HIV. This report describes a 38-year-old female who was perinatally infected with HIV-1 and treated with 14 different antiretroviral regimens over 27 years, gradually leading to 4-class drug resistance. Despite various attempts to obtain sustained viral suppression, including the off-label administration of intravenous foscarnet and enfuvirtide, and thorough follow-up with 16 viral genotyping/phenotyping from 1999 to 2021, viral control was not maintained.

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Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) show promise as alternatives to traditional antibiotics for treating drug-resistant infections. Their adaptability and diverse sequence possibilities allow for rational design by modulating physicochemical determinants to achieve desired biological properties, transforming them into peptides for potential new therapies. Nisin, one of the best-studied AMPs, is believed to have potential to be used as a therapeutic, particularly against antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

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Nisin serves as the prototype within the lantibiotic group of antimicrobial peptides, exhibiting a broad-spectrum inhibition against Gram-positive bacteria, including important food-borne pathogens and clinically relevant antibiotic-resistant strains. The gene-encoded nature of nisin allows for gene-based bioengineering, enabling the generation of novel derivatives. It has been demonstrated that nisin mutants can be produced with improved functional properties.

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We report a hemodialysis MDR HIV-infected patient switched to fostemsavir with lenacapavir plus lamivudine for more than a year. She maintained a suppressed viral replication and did not present any clinical or biological drug-related side effects. The combination of lenacapavir plus fostemsavir looks promising in terms of safety and efficacy even in patients with end-stage renal disease awaiting renal transplant.

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