Effect of 3BNC117 and romidepsin on the HIV-1 reservoir in people taking suppressive antiretroviral therapy (ROADMAP): a randomised, open-label, phase 2A trial.

Background: The administration of broadly neutralising anti-HIV-1 antibodies before latency reversal could facilitate elimination of HIV-1-infected CD4 T cells. We tested this concept by combining the broadly neutralising antibody 3BNC117 in combination with the latency-reversing agent romidepsin in people with HIV-1 who were taking suppressive antiretroviral therapy (ART).

Methods: We did a randomised, open-label, phase 2A trial at three university hospital centres in Denmark, Germany, and the USA.

Cumulative Incidence of SARS-CoV-2 in Healthcare Workers at a General Hospital in Germany during the Pandemic-A Longitudinal Analysis.

Health workers (HW) are at increased risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection. In order to monitor the infection dynamic on the basis of contact with patients, HW at the St. Antonius Hospital (SAH) were tested four times in one year by PCR and serology.

SARS-CoV-2, CT-Values, and Infectivity-Conclusions to Be Drawn from Side Observations.

In their recent article published in Viruses, Michel Drancourt and colleagues [...

[Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in employees of a general hospital in Northrhine-Westphalia, Germany].

Background: We assessed the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in the staff of a general hospital in North-Rhine-Westphalia in a cross-sectional study.

Method: Employees (n = 1363) were offered a nasopharyngeal swab and serology for SARS-CoV-2. Additionally, employees completed a questionnaire about preexisting conditions, contacts with SARS-CoV-2-positive individuals and COVID-19-specific symptoms.

Treatment modification after starting cART in people living with HIV: retrospective analysis of the German ClinSurv HIV Cohort 2005-2017.

Objective: Combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) has markedly increased survival and quality of life in people living with HIV. With the advent of new treatment options, including single-tablet regimens, durability and efficacy of first-line cART regimens are evolving.

Methods: We analyzed data from the prospective multicenter German Clinical Surveillance of HIV Disease (ClinSurv) cohort of the Robert-Koch Institute.

Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Treatment Interruptions in Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Type 1-infected Patients Receiving Antiretroviral Therapy: Implications for Future HIV Cure Trials.

Background: Safety and tolerability of analytical treatment interruptions (ATIs) as a vital part of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) cure studies are discussed. We analyzed current evidence for the occurrence of adverse events (AEs) during TIs.

Methods: Our analysis included studies that reported on AEs in HIV-1-infected patients undergoing TIs.

Correction to: Antiretroviral treatment indications and adherence to the German-Austrian treatment initiation guidelines in the German ClinSurv HIV Cohort between 1999 and 2016.

In this article the cooperating partners of the ClinSurv HIV cohort were not listed in the acknowledgements. The correct paragraph appears below.

Antiretroviral treatment indications and adherence to the German-Austrian treatment initiation guidelines in the German ClinSurv HIV Cohort between 1999 and 2016.

Purpose: The aim of the study was to assess guideline adherence to combined antiretroviral therapy (ART) in the German ClinSurv HIV Cohort and the real-life impact of the Strategic Timing of Antiretroviral Therapy (START) study, to identify patients not treated as recommended by new guidelines.

Methods: We used data from the multicenter ClinSurv cohort of the Robert-Koch-Institute (RKI) between 1999 and 2016. Inclusion criteria were people living with HIV/AIDS, ≥ 18 years of age and cART naïve at the first visit (FV).

Short Communication: Tracking Tregs: Translocation of CD49b/LAG-3 Type 1 T Regulatory Cells to the Gut-Associated Lymphoid Tissue of HIV Patients.

The gastrointestinal mucosa [gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT)] represents the largest site of chronic immune activation and HIV replication. Important cellular agents in the immunopathogenesis of an HIV infection are, in particular, CD49b/LAG-3 type 1 T regulatory cells (Tr1), which secrete large amounts of IL-10 (interleukin-10), and plasmacytoid dendritic cells, the main producers of IFN-α (interferon-alpha). However, the distribution of CD49b/LAG-3 Tr1 cells along the GALT is unknown.

Cytokine and Chemokine Signature in Elite Versus Viremic Controllers Infected with HIV.

HIV long-term nonprogressors (LTNPs) maintaining high CD4(+) T-cell counts without antiretroviral therapy (ART) are divided into elite controllers (ECs) with undetectable and viremic controllers (VCs) with low viral loads. Little is known about the long-term changes of T-cell subsets and inflammation patterns in ECs versus VCs. The aim of the study was to explore the long-term evolution of CD4(+) T-cell levels in LTNPs and to analyze cytokine profiles in ECs versus VCs.

Viraemia suppressed in HIV-1-infected humans by broadly neutralizing antibody 3BNC117.

HIV-1 immunotherapy with a combination of first generation monoclonal antibodies was largely ineffective in pre-clinical and clinical settings and was therefore abandoned. However, recently developed single-cell-based antibody cloning methods have uncovered a new generation of far more potent broadly neutralizing antibodies to HIV-1 (refs 4, 5). These antibodies can prevent infection and suppress viraemia in humanized mice and nonhuman primates, but their potential for human HIV-1 immunotherapy has not been evaluated.

Lersivirine - a new drug for HIV infection therapy.

Introduction: Lersivirine (UK-453,061) is a novel second-generation non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI). It binds reverse transcriptase in a distinct way leading to a unique resistance profile. The development of lersivirine was recently stopped in Phase IIb clinical development.

Cytochrome P450 2B6 (CYP2B6) and constitutive androstane receptor (CAR) polymorphisms are associated with early discontinuation of efavirenz-containing regimens.

Objectives: Cytochrome P450 2B6 (CYP2B6) is responsible for the metabolic clearance of efavirenz and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the CYP2B6 gene are associated with efavirenz pharmacokinetics. Since the constitutive androstane receptor (CAR) and the pregnane X receptor (PXR) correlate with CYP2B6 in liver, and a CAR polymorphism (rs2307424) and smoking correlate with efavirenz plasma concentrations, we investigated their association with early (<3 months) discontinuation of efavirenz therapy.

Methods: Three hundred and seventy-three patients initiating therapy with an efavirenz-based regimen were included (278 white patients and 95 black patients; 293 male).