The introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in 1996 has transformed a lethal disease to a chronic pathology with a dramatic decrease in mortality and morbidity of AIDS-related symptoms in infected patients. However, HAART has not allowed the cure of HIV infection, the main obstacle to HIV eradication being the existence of quiescent reservoirs. Several other problems have been encountered with HAART (such as side effects, adherence to medication, emergence of resistance and cost of treatment), and these motivate the search for new ways to treat these patients. Recent advances hold promise for the ultimate cure of HIV infection, which is the topic of this review. Besides these new strategies aiming to eliminate the virus, efforts must be made to improve current HAART. We believe that the cure of HIV infection will not be attained in the short term and that a strategy based on purging the reservoirs has to be associated with an aggressive HAART strategy.
Significant advances in treatment have turned HIV-1 into a manageable chronic condition. This has been achieved due to highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), involving a combination regimen of medications, including drugs that target Reverse Transcriptase, Protease, Integrase, and viral entry, explored in this review. This paper also highlights novel therapies, such as Lenacapavir, and avenues toward functional cure targeting the CCR5 co-receptor, including the Δ32 mutation.
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas, Laboratório de Pesquisa Clínica em Dermatologia Infecciosa, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Background: Pregnant women constitute a vulnerable population occasionally affected by zoonotic sporotrichosis. Treatment is challenging due to potentially teratogenic oral medications (itraconazole and saturated potassium iodide solution) or lack of clinical experience during pregnancy (terbinafine). Literature is scarce on sporotrichosis and pregnancy, mainly consisting of case reports.
Infectious diseases are the leading cause of death in infants and children under 5 years of age. exposure to viruses can lead to spontaneous abortion, preterm birth, congenital abnormalities or other developmental defects, often resulting in lifelong health sequalae. The underlying biological mechanisms are difficult to study in humans due to ethical concerns and limited sample access.
Disruption of HIV-1 Integrase (IN) interactions with the host-factor Lens Epithelium-Derived Growth Factor (LEDGF)/p75 leads to decreased, random integration, increased latent infection, and described here, accumulation of HIV-1 antisense RNA (asRNA). asRNA increase was observed following interruptions of IN-LEDGF/p75 interactions either through pharmacologic perturbations of IN-LEDGF/p75 by treatment with allosteric HIV-1 integrase inhibitors (ALLINIs) or in cell lines with LEDGF genetic knockout. Additionally, by impairing Tat-dependent HIV transcription, asRNA abundance markedly increases.
