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Study Looks at Possible HIV Drugs-Birth Defect Link
Posted 30 Jan 2012 by Drugs.com
MONDAY, Jan. 30 – Pregnant women with HIV can prevent passing the AIDS-causing virus to their babies by taking antiretroviral drugs, but there remains a possibility that some of these medications might cause birth defects, such as cleft lip and palate, according to a new study. Antiretroviral drugs have been found to reduce the risk of mothers passing HIV on to their children from between 15 and 25 percent to less than 1 percent. These drugs, however, are still under investigation and not considered safe during pregnancy, the study authors noted. To analyze the possible association between antiretroviral drugs and birth defects, Vassiliki Cartsos, an associate professor and director of graduate orthodontics at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine in Boston, and colleagues examined five years of adverse events compiled by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Their findings are ... Read more
Related support groups: HIV Infection, Epivir, Efavirenz, Abacavir, Lamivudine, Retrovir, Zidovudine, Nelfinavir, Sustiva, Ziagen, Viracept, Epivir-HBV
HIV Drugs May Be Tied to Early Aging
Posted 27 Jun 2011 by Drugs.com
SUNDAY, June 26 – An older class of antiretroviral drugs used to treat HIV can cause premature aging, a new study suggests. Researchers examined muscle cells from HIV patients and found that zidovudine (AZT) and other antiviral drugs known as nucleoside analogue reverse-transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) damage DNA in mitochondria, the energy factories in cells. The study is published June 26 in the journal Nature Genetics. The finding may help explain why some HIV patients treated with antiviral drugs show advanced signs of frailty and age-related diseases such as dementia and cardiovascular disease at an early age. "HIV clinics were seeing patients who had otherwise been successfully treated but who showed signs of being much older than their years. This was a real mystery," Professor Patrick Chinnery, a senior fellow in clinical science at the Institute of Genetic Medicine at ... Read more
Related support groups: HIV Infection, Baraclude, Hepsera, Viread, Entecavir, Tenofovir, Epivir, Adefovir, Zidovudine, Lamivudine, Ziagen, Retrovir, Telbivudine, Abacavir, Didanosine
Anti-HIV Drugs May Help Prevent Spread of Virus
Posted 27 May 2010 by Drugs.com
THURSDAY, May 27 – People who are HIV-positive can lower their risk for transmitting the virus to their partners by 90 percent by taking antiretroviral drugs, new research has found. Antiretroviral drug therapy helps reduce HIV levels in the infected person's blood, which in turn makes the person less infectious to others. The drugs are commonly taken in the United States by people with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. In the new research, published online May 26 in The Lancet, investigators studied more than 3,400 heterosexual couples in seven African countries. In each couple, one person was infected with HIV and the other was not. No one in the study was taking antiretroviral drugs. Health workers counseled the couples about preventing HIV transmission and followed up with them for two years. During that time, periodic blood tests measured HIV levels in the blood, and people were ... Read more
Related support groups: HIV Infection, Atripla, Truvada, Baraclude, Kaletra, Norvir, Hepsera, Combivir, Ritonavir, Lexiva, Viread, Norvir Soft Gelatin, Entecavir, Epivir, Nevirapine
HIV Drugs Might Combat Two Other Diseases
Posted 3 Apr 2010 by Drugs.com
THURSDAY, April 1 – Four anti-HIV drugs inhibit a retrovirus recently linked to prostate cancer and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), say U.S. researchers. If further investigation proves that the retrovirus xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV) causes prostate cancer or CFS, these HIV drugs may be an effective treatment for the two conditions. In this study, researchers from the University of Utah and Emory University/Veterans Affair Medical Center tested how effectively 45 compounds used to treat HIV and other viral infections worked against XMRV. Raltegravir was the most effective, and three other drugs – L-00870812, zidovudine (ZDV or AZT), and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) – also prevented XMRV replication. "Our study showed that these drugs inhibited XMRV at lower concentrations when two of them were used together, suggesting that possible highly potent ... Read more
Related support groups: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), Prostate Cancer, Viread, Tenofovir, Zidovudine, Isentress, Retrovir, Raltegravir
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HIV Infection, Nonoccupational Exposure, Occupational Exposure, Reduction of Perinatal Transmission of HIV