Insights into reasons for discontinuation according to year of starting first regimen of highly active antiretroviral therapy in a cohort of antiretroviral‐naïve patients

Objectives

The aim of the study was to determine whether the incidence of first‐line treatment discontinuations and their causes changed according to the time of starting highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in an Italian cohort.

Methods

We included in the study patients from the Italian COhort Naïve Antiretrovirals (ICoNA) who initiated HAART when naïve to antiretroviral therapy (ART). The endpoints were discontinuation within the first year of ≥1 drug in the first HAART regimen for any reason, intolerance/toxicity, poor adherence, immunovirological/clinical failure and simplification. We investigated whether the time of starting HAART (stratified as ‘early’, 1997–1999; ‘intermediate’, 2000–2002; ‘recent’, 2003–2007) was associated with the probability of reaching the endpoints by a survival analysis.

Results

Overall, the 1‐year probability of discontinuation of ≥1 drug in the first regimen was 36.1%. The main causes of discontinuation were intolerance/toxicity (696 of 1189 patients; 58.5%) and poor adherence (285 of 1189 patients; 24%). The hazards for all‐reason change were comparable according to calendar period [2000–2002, adjusted relative hazard (ARH) 0.82, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.69–0.98; 2003–2007, ARH 0.94, 95% CI 0.76–1.16, vs. 1997–1999; global P‐value=0.08]. Patients who started HAART during the ‘recent’ period were less likely to change their initial regimen because of intolerance/toxicity (ARH 0.67, 95% CI 0.51–0.89 vs. ‘early’ period). Patients who started in the ‘intermediate’ and ‘recent’ periods had a higher risk of discontinuation because of simplification (ARH 15.26, 95% CI 3.21–72.45, and ARH 37.97, 95% CI 7.56–190.64, vs. ‘early’ period, respectively).

Conclusions

It seems important to evaluate reason‐specific trends in the incidence of discontinuation in order to better understand the determinants of changes over time. The incidence of discontinuation because of intolerance/toxicity has declined over time while simplification strategies have become more frequent in recent years. Intolerance/toxicity remains the major cause of drug discontinuation.     

Kaolin clotting time and dilute Russell's viper venom time distinguish between prothrombin-dependent and beta 2-glycoprotein I-dependent antiphospholipid antibodies

Antiphospholipid (aPL) antibodies include anticardiolipin (aCL) and lupus anticoagulant (LA) antibodies. LA antibodies recognize the complex of lipid-bound (human) prothrombin, in this way inhibiting the phospholipid-dependent coagulation reactions, whereas aCL antibodies are directed towards beta 2-glycoprotein I (beta 2-GPI) bound to an anionic lipid surface. According to their behavior in coagulation reactions, we have divided aCL antibodies into two groups: aCL-type A, which inhibit the phospholipid-dependent coagulation reactions because they enhance the binding of beta 2-GPI to the procoagulant phospholipid surface; and aCL-type B antibodies, which are devoid of anticoagulant properties. We report the distinctive laboratory and clinical profiles of 25 patients with well-characterized, phospholipid-dependent inhibitor of coagulation. Fourteen patients had LA antibodies (aCL-type B were concomitantly present in 10 cases, while in the other four, aCL titer was normal), and the other 11 had aCL-type A antibodies. The laboratory evaluation of the two groups showed the dilute Russell viper venom time (dRVVT) to be the most abnormal coagulation test in the aCL- type A-positive group, whereas the kaolin clotting time (KCT) was the most abnormal assay in the LA-positive group. In fact, the ratios of the coagulation times of patient plasma over normal pooled plasma (mean +/- standard deviation) for LA versus aCL-type A antibodies were 1.48 +/- 0.27 versus 2.20 +/- 0.42, P = .0001, and 2.22 +/- 0.42 versus 1.50 +/- 0.42, P = .0003, for the dRVVT and KCT, respectively. No differences were observed either in the ratios of the activated partial thromboplastin times and the prothrombin times or the plasma levels of beta 2-GPI and prothrombin. Conversely, aCL titers were significantly higher in aCL-type A-positive patients (147 +/- 44 U) than in the LA- positive group (61 +/- 55 U; P = .0003). We ruled out the possibility that platelet contamination of plasma could account for the observed coagulation profiles, as the two patterns were reproduced in platelet- free plasma. In addition, we performed clotting tests in plasma in the presence of phospholipids and calcium after addition of factor IXa or factor Xa. The assay performed with factor Xa was more sensitive to the presence of aCL-type A antibodies, while the assay performed with factor IXa was preferentially sensitive to LA-containing plasmas, supporting the earlier findings with the dRVVT and KCT assays.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

TEL and KIP1 define the smallest region of deletions on 12p13 in hematopoietic malignancies

Unbalanced translocations as well as interstitial deletions of the short arm of chromosome 12 [del(12p)] are found as recurring chromosomal changes in a broad spectrum of hematopoietic malignancies. These changes result in the hemizygous deletion of genetic material from 12p. We mapped a yeast artificial chromosome containing the TEL gene, a cosmid contig containing part of TEL and a P1 contig containing the KIP1 gene to 12p13. These probes were used for fluorescence in situ hybridization to analyze samples from 47 patients with various hematologic malignancies who had unbalanced translocations (25 patients) leading to loss of 12p or deletions (22 patients) involving 12p13. The patients had acute lymphoblastic leukemia (8 cases), myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS; 11 cases), acute myeloid leukemia (AML; 10 cases), myeloproliferative disorders (4 cases), therapy-related MDS or AML (7 cases), non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (2 cases), and other hematopoietic malignancies (5 cases). All three probes were hemizygously detected in 26 cases and were completely retained in only 9 cases. In 12 cases probes for one of the two genes were deleted, allowing us to map the smallest region of overlap of these deletions to a small genomic region that is bordered on the telomeric side by the TEL gene and on the centromeric side by KIP1. The genomic distance between TEL and KIP1 is estimated to be about 1 to 2 Mbp.     

All that bleeds is not infliximab-refractory ulcerative colitis

The role of biological agents in moderate to severe ulcerative colitis has been shown to be effective in the induction of clinical remission. However, the role of infliximab therapy for induction of remission in patients with fulminant colitis is debatable. A case of a hospitalized patient with a new diagnosis of severe ulcerative colitis refractory to intravenous steroids is presented. The patient was treated with infliximab and discharged with clinical remission, but subsequently presented back to hospital with a lower gastrointestinal hemorrhage.     

Marrow transplantation from unrelated donors for treatment of hematologic malignancies: effect of mismatching for one HLA locus

One hundred twelve patients less than 36 years old received marrow grafts from unrelated donors as treatment for hematologic malignancy. Seventy donor/recipient pairs were phenotypically identical for HLA-A, - B, and -D, while 42 had a "minor" disparity at one HLA locus. There was an increase in the risk of acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) in patients receiving HLA-partially matched grafts compared with those receiving HLA-matched grafts (51% v 36% probability of grades III-IV acute GVHD). However, in this cohort of patients, there was no significant difference in survival (at 1.5 years, 46% v 51% for good- risk patients, 44% v 30% for poor-risk patients). This finding suggests that some degree of HLA disparity can be tolerated in young patients transplanted from unrelated donors for malignant disease, thus making transplantation an option available to larger numbers of patients.     

Variability of 11q23 rearrangements in hematopoietic cell lines identified with fluorescence in situ hybridization

We mapped and ordered 17 cosmid, phage, and plasmid clones to chromosome 11, bands q22-q24, using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). We then analyzed four hematopoietic cell lines with 11q23 rearrangements, Karpas 45, SUP-T13, RC-K8, and Karpas 422, using these probes. The studies showed that the translocation breakpoints of the Karpas 45 and SUP-T13 cell lines, which were derived from T-cell malignancies, were located in the same breakpoint cluster region of the MLL gene as the RS4; 11 cell line and patients with the t(9;11), t(11;19), and t(6;11) described previously. We confirmed that the translocation breakpoint of the RC-K8 cell line was located telomeric to the MLL gene, and found that the derivative 11 chromosome of the Karpas 422 cell line, which had been thought to contain a t(4;11) (q21;q23), was in fact formed through a deletion and an inverted tandem repeat of part of 11q.     

Generation and characterization of ex vivo propagated autologous CD8+ cells used for adoptive immunotherapy of patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus

Cytolytic T lymphocytes play an important role in host defense against viral infections, including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). In a phase I clinical trial (protocol 080 of the AIDS Clinical Trials Group), generation of CD8+ effector cells from peripheral blood of patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)-related complex (ARC) or AIDS and safety of autologous adoptive transfer of these cells were evaluated. For therapeutic infusions, CD8+ T cells were purified by positive selection on anti-CD8 monoclonal antibody-coated flasks from leukapheresed peripheral blood of seven patients. These CD8+ T cells were cultured in the presence of interleukin-2 and phytohemagglutinin for up to 3 weeks to obtain cells sufficient for therapeutic infusions (10(8) to 10(10)). All 31 cell cultures established from the seven patients and used for therapy were highly enriched in CD8+ (mean, 97%), CD8+HLA-DR+ (50%), cytotoxic CD8+CD11b- (82%), and memory CD29+ (78%) T lymphocytes. In vitro expanded CD8+ cells had excellent cytotoxic function at the time they were used for therapy, including HIV-specific activity against autologous targets infected with vaccinia vectors expressing HIV-IIIb antigens, gag, pol, and env. Anti-HIV activity of cultured CD8+ cells was significantly higher than that of autologous fresh peripheral blood lymphocytes. Our results show that CD8+ T lymphocytes obtained from peripheral blood of symptomatic HIV-infected patients can be purified, cultured to obtain large numbers of cells with enhanced anti-HIV activity, and safely infused into patients with AIDS as a form of immunotherapy.