Strategies for long-term success in the treatment of HIV infection

Joel E. Gallant, MD, MPH

JAMA. 2000;283:1329-1334.

Highly active antiretroviral therapy has revolutionized the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, which can now be viewed as a chronic and manageable disease. However, HIV infection differs from other chronic diseases in that early treatment decisions can irrevocably alter the patient's response to future therapy. Despite the large number of approved antiretroviral agents, the number of sequential treatment regimens that will be effective for an individual patient is sharply limited by cross-resistance within the 3 drug classes.

Because of the complexity of antiretroviral therapy, clinicians prescribing it require considerable expertise. Treatment should be deferred until the patient has been educated about the importance of strict adherence and has demonstrated willingness and motivation to begin therapy. Drug regimens should be chosen that the patient can tolerate and adhere to, and the consequences of resistance should be considered before therapy is begun. When treatment fails, the timing and choice of subsequent therapy can be critical in determining the magnitude and durability of response. Resistance testing can help guide the clinician in the choice of therapy. In patients who have been treated with numerous antiretroviral agents, it may be impossible to achieve significant viral suppression. Therapy may still be beneficial for such patients, but it should be tolerable and should not increase resistance to drugs that may become available in the near future.

Drug resistance and treatment failure are not random events, but are the result of factors over which clinicians and their patients have some control. The treatment of drug-resistant patients is challenging; the best way to deal with resistance is to prevent it.

     

Effect of the viable-yellow (A(vy)) agouti allele on skin tumorigenesis and humoral hypercalcemia in v-Ha-ras transgenic TGxAC mice

We previously reported that papillomas can arise from the follicular epithelium of v-Ha-ras transgenic TGxAC mice. Since the viable-yellow mutation (A(vy)) of the mouse agouti gene which regulates coat color pigmentation by acting within the micro-environment of the hair follicle has been shown to function as a tumor promoter in the liver, we hypothesized that it may also play a role in TGxAC skin tumorigenesis. Endogenous agouti protein product was detected in the outer root sheath of anagen hair follicles following plucking of the hair shaft, but not in the interfollicular epithelium, in TGxAC mice on an FVB/N genetic background. It was also detected in papillomas from these mice produced by 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) treatment or plucking. Expression of the A(vy) allele in the v-Ha-ras transgenic TGxAC mouse line results in an approximately 2-fold increase in papilloma development compared with controls which did not carry the A(vy) allele following twice-weekly treatment with 1.25, 2.5 or 5.0 microg TPA. In addition, TPA-treated, papilloma-bearing F1 mice which carried the A(vy) allele, but not F1 mice which did not carry the A(vy) allele, exhibited a syndrome of humoral hypercalcemia mediated by parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP) that led to weight loss, hypercalcemia and hypophosphatemia. Thus, we conclude that the A(vy) allele can influence the development of skin tumors and PTHrP-mediated humoral hypercalcemia in v-Ha-ras transgenic TGxAC mice.      

L-454,560, a potent and selective PDE4 inhibitor with in vivo efficacy in animal models of asthma and cognition

Type 4 phosphodiesterases (PDE4) inhibitors are emerging therapeutics in the treatment of a number of chronic disorders including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and cognitive disorders. This study delineates the preclinical profile of L-454,560, which is a potent, competitive and preferential inhibitor of PDE4A, 4B, and 4D with IC50 values of 1.6, 0.5 and 1.2 nM, respectively. In contrast to the exclusive binding of cilomilast and the preferential binding of roflumilast to the PDE4 holoenzyme state (Mg2+-bound form), L-454,560 binds to both the apo-(Mg2+-free) and holoenzyme states of PDE4. The intrinsic enzyme potency for PDE4 inhibition by L-454,560 also results in an effective blockade of LPS-induced TNFalpha formation in whole blood (IC50 = 161 nM) and is comparable to the human whole blood potency of roflumilast. The cytokine profile of inhibition of L-454,560 is mainly a Th1 profile with significant inhibition of IFNgamma and no detectable inhibition of IL-13 formation up to 1 microM. L-454,560 was also found to be efficacious in two models of airway hyper-reactivity, the ovalbumin (OVA) sensitized and challenged guinea pig and the ascaris sensitized sheep model. Furthermore, L-454560 was also effective in improving performance in the delayed matching to position (DMTP) version of the Morris watermaze, at a dose removed from that associated with potential emesis. Therefore, L-454,560 is a novel PDE4 inhibitor with an overall in vivo efficacy profile at least comparable to roflumilast and clearly superior to cilomilast.     

Hodgkin disease: CT of the thymus

The computed tomography (CT) scans in two groups of patients with Hodgkin disease were reviewed to determine the frequency of thymic enlargement. In 50 CT scans from 50 patients with evidence of thoracic disease on CT scans who were examined for primary staging, the thymus was enlarged in 15 of 50 (30%). Fifty CT scans were obtained from 44 patients at the time of 50 separate episodes of known or suspected relapse. Relapse occurred in the mediastinum in 12 episodes, lung parenchyma in five, and both sites in one. Thymic enlargement thought to be due to involvement by disease was present in seven of 18 (38%). Mediastinal disease was associated with thymic enlargement in all but one patient in whom a thymic cyst developed after radiation therapy. Differentiation of thymic enlargement from enlarged superior mediastinal lymph nodes was easily made in all but two patients. Thymic enlargement in the absence of lymph node enlargement may indicate a different disease, since isolated Hodgkin disease of the thymus is uncommon. Primary thymic tumor should be considered initially, whereas after treatment, rebound hyperplasia of the thymus may be the cause of enlargement.     

Deleterious effects of irradiation and bone marrow transplantation therapy in the genetically anemic an/an mouse

The efficacy and outcome of bone marrow transplantation therapy following lethal irradiation were examined in syngeneic mice that had a hereditary macrocytic anemia (an/an) or were genotypically normal (+/+). Successful RBC and WBC replacement, based on blood cell parameters and donor genetic markers, were observed in all combinations of transplant therapy. Nevertheless, the an/an mice died prematurely several months after treatment, whether they received +/+ or an/an marrow cells. In contrast, the +/+ recipients of either +/+ or an/an marrow cells survived for at least 1 year after transplantation. Premature death of the an/an mice was associated with lymphopenia, anemia, kidney lesions, and severe pathogen-free pneumonitis. On the basis of our results, we hypothesize that the premature deaths of an/an mice are caused by a kind of chronic irradiation damage to which an/an mice are especially susceptible.     

Role of EP3 and EP4 prostaglandin receptors in reorganization of the cytoskeleton in mature human osteoclasts

OBJECTIVE: Osteoclasts are central to the pathophysiology of several bone diseases. Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) is well known to influence osteoclasts indirectly, but its direct action on osteoclasts is still controversial and the relevant receptors are unknown. We investigated the distribution and function of EP receptors in human mature osteoclasts. METHODS: Osteoclasts were extracted from femurs and tibias of human fetuses obtained from legal abortions. In situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry were used to detect the presence of EP1, EP2, EP3, and EP4 receptors on these cells. Actin staining and fluorescent microscopy were used to detect the effects of receptor activation on the cytoskeleton. RESULTS: Only EP3 and EP4 receptors were detected at the RNA and protein level in osteoclasts. These receptors were functional: PGE2 decreased the number of osteoclasts presenting an actin ring; 11-deoxy-PGE1, an EP2 and EP4 agonist, also decreased the number of tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase-positive cells with an actin ring; sulprostone, an EP3-specific agonist, had no effect on this variable but increased the number of cells with lamellipodia. CONCLUSION: Mature human osteoclasts present 2 subtypes of EP receptors, namely EP3 and EP4, that mediate different actions of PGE2 on these cells: activation of the EP4 receptors inhibits actin ring formation and activation of the EP3 receptors increases the number of lamellipodia. Activation or inhibition of these receptors by specific agents could be used to study and influence osteoclast function.     

Expression of specific granule markers on the cell surface of neutrophil cytoplasts

The widespread assumption that cytoplasts generated from human polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) are vesicles consisting solely of cytoplasm surrounded by plasma membrane and devoid of granule activity remains to be tested. PMN cytoplasts were prepared by centrifugation of intact cells on a Ficoll step gradient in the presence of cytochalasin B. Two granule membrane markers, Mol, a fluorometrically detectable antigen, and cytochrome b, both of which have been shown to translocate to the plasma membrane during granule release, were compared for their activity in cytoplasts and intact PMNs. We found that the amount of Mol detected on the plasma membrane of intact PMNs, as compared with other membrane markers (such as antigens LFA-1 and beta 2m), increased 1.6- fold upon exposure of PMNs to Ficoll plus cytochalasin B prior to centrifugation. Another twofold increase in Mol expression occurred upon cytoplast preparation. Release of the granule enzymes, vitamin B12- binding protein, and lysozyme were also followed and correlated well (r = .78 and .92) with the amount of Mol antigen present on the cell surface. Cytochrome b was also found to be higher (1.4-fold) on plasma membranes isolated from cytoplasts than on plasma membranes isolated from intact control cells. These results indicate that some fusion of granule membranes and plasma membranes occurred during treatment of PMNs with Ficoll plus cytochalasin b and during cytoplast preparation.