Prospective, randomized, open label trial of Efavirenz vs Lopinavir/Ritonavir in HIV+ treatment-naive subjects with CD4+<200 cell/mm3 in Mexico.

Objective: To compare the efficacy of efavirenz (EFV) vs lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r) in combination with azidothymidine/lamivudine in antiretroviral therapy naive, HIV+ individuals presenting for care with CD4 counts <200/mm.

Methods: Prospective, randomized, open label, multicenter trial in Mexico. HIV-infected subjects with CD4 <200/mm were randomized to receive open label EFV or LPV/r plus azidothymidine/lamivudine (fixed-dose combination) for 48 weeks.

Virological rather than host factors are associated with transaminase levels among HIV/HCV-coinfected patients.

Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) is a routine parameter in the assessment and monitoring of chronic hepatitis C viral (HCV) infection. Hepatitis C virus-infected African Americans (AAs) have been reported to have lower ALT levels. In this retrospective, cross-sectional, multicenter study, host and virological factors possibly associated with ALT levels were analyzed by multivariate regression analyses among HIV/HCV-coinfected patients.

First HAART in HIV-infected patients with high viral load: value of HIV RNA levels at 12 weeks to predict virologic outcome.

The aim of this study is to identify the role of incomplete suppression during the first months of highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART) to predict virologic failure in patients with high levels of HIV replication. In a retrospective, longitudinal, and multicenter study, response to HAART was assessed in treatment-naive adults with HIV RNA >100 000 copies/mL, and factors predicting failure were analyzed through regression analyses. A total of 118 patients were included.

Rheumatic manifestations of human immunodeficiency virus infection.

Rheumatic complaints are common in patients with HIV, and HIV positivity confers an increased susceptibility in populations with similar risk factors for HIV infection. With the advent of the modern combined antiretroviral treatment, HAART has had a profound beneficial effect on survival in HIV-infected patients, with lifelong control of HIV infection and normalization of life expectancy; but it has also contributed to both an altered frequency and a different nature of rheumatic complications now being observed in this population, with new rheumatic complications, such as osteoporosis, osteonecrosis, gout, mycobacterial, mycotic osteoarticular infections, and neoplasia perhaps more prevalent. Rheumatologists, internists, and general physicians need to be aware of these changes to provide optimal diagnosis and how to disclose the results to their patients.

[Epidemiology of HIV infection: twenty-years of experience].

In the 20 years since the isolation of HIV, an overwhelming amount of information about this entity has come up and transform this disease into a chronic and manageable one. In spite of all this knowledge, failure to prevent new infections is still common in many parts of the world, especially those acquired by sexual and intravenous drug use. Sub-Saharan Africa is still the most affected region of the world, where the meridional region presents the largest incidence of all (30%) and contains only 2% of the world population.