Safety and efficacy of saquinavir soft-gelatin capsules + zidovudine + optional lamivudine in pregnancy and prevention of vertical HIV transmission.

Background: The treatment of HIV infection during pregnancy significantly and substantially reduces the risk of mother-to-child transmission. Although triple therapy is the standard of care for management of HIV infection in adults, the safety of many approved antiretroviral agents in pregnancy is not currently established.

Methodology: An open-label pilot study conducted in Thailand and the UK of the safety of saquinavir soft-gel capsules 1200 mg three times daily administered in the second and third trimester of pregnancy in combination with local standard-of-care antiretroviral therapy.

A trial of shortened zidovudine regimens to prevent mother-to-child transmission of human immunodeficiency virus type 1. Perinatal HIV Prevention Trial (Thailand) Investigators.

Background: The optimal duration of zidovudine administration to prevent perinatal transmission of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) should be determined to facilitate its use in areas where resources are limited.

Methods: We conducted a randomized, double-blind equivalence trial of zidovudine starting in the mother at 28 weeks' gestation, with 6 weeks of treatment in the infant (the long-long regimen), which is similar to protocol 076; zidovudine starting at 35 weeks' gestation, with 3 days of treatment in the infant (the short-short regimen); a long-short regimen; and a short-long regimen. The mothers received zidovudine orally during labor.

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 subtype E envelope recombinant peptides containing naturally immunogenic epitopes.

A series of recombinant peptides of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) subtype E envelope were used to address the question of whether immunogenic epitopes similar to those described for the subtype B envelope are also present in structurally analogous regions of another HIV-1 subtype with divergent sequences. Five recombinant peptides, covering the V2 and V3 domains of gp120, the cysteine-loop region of gp41, a gp41 region involved in oligomerization, and the cytoplasmic tail of gp41, were found to react with >50% of the serum samples analyzed. All but the V2 region in the HIV-1 subtype B envelope have been reported to contain continuous epitopes that are highly immunogenic during natural infection.

Flow cytometric analysis of T-lymphocytes subsets in adult Thais.

Flow cytometer (FACScan) was used to determine the range of T lymphocyte subpopulations in normal Thai blood donors at Maharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai Hospital, Chiang Mai. Reference population consisted of 150 healthy HIV seronegative blood donors. T lymphocyte subsets were analysed using two-color immunophenotyping of peripheral blood lymphocytes with a lysed whole blood technique and enumerated.