Current Situation on Antiretroviral Therapy against HIV-1: Limitation and New Leads

A special issue of Viruses (ISSN 1999-4915). This special issue belongs to the section "Viral Immunology, Vaccines, and Antivirals".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2021) | Viewed by 10891

Special Issue Editor


E-Mail
Guest Editor
INRS-Institut Armand Frappier, Laval, Canada

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleague,

Antiretroviral therapy (ART) has dramatically reduced HIV-1-associated morbidity and mortality, and has transformed HIV-1 infection into a manageable chronic condition by suppressing viral replication. However, despite recent patient care improvements, ART still fails to cure HIV-1 infection, due to the inability to counteract the immune defects and metabolic disturbances associated with residual inflammation alongside viral persistence. Indeed, despite viral suppression, patients under ART display residual anatomic viral reservoirs that need to be targeted in the hope of curing HIV-1 infection. Life-long drug administration also results in multiple side-effects in patients, including lipodystrophy and insulin resistance.

Therefore, it is critical to obtain a clear and documented picture of all limitations that are associated with these current treatments, such as metabolic deregulations, molecule toxicity and reservoir persistence, in an attempt to develop new successful therapeutic strategies. Patient care improvements and the elimination of viral reservoirs can themselves be advanced as end goals to live with or to cure HIV-1 infection, respectively. In this Special Issue, we will focus on the existing antiviral therapy, metabolic and molecular deregulations associated with these medications, and novel viral and host cell targets that are considered to improve ART outcomes. We will also discuss the current situation in HIV-1 reservoirs and potential strategies which aim to purge these infected cells in treated patients.

Dr. Julien Van Grevenynghe
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Viruses is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • ART (anti-retroviral therapy)
  • HIV-1
  • Metabolic perturbances
  • Viral reservoirs
  • Cure
  • New drug discovery
  • Residual inflammation
  • Post-treatment controllers

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

Jump to: Review

12 pages, 884 KiB  
Article
HIV-1 Subtype C Drug Resistance Mutations in Heavily Treated Patients Failing Integrase Strand Transfer Inhibitor-Based Regimens in Botswana
by Kaelo K. Seatla, Dorcas Maruapula, Wonderful T. Choga, Tshenolo Ntsipe, Nametso Mathiba, Mompati Mogwele, Max Kapanda, Bornapate Nkomo, Dinah Ramaabya, Joseph Makhema, Mompati Mmalane, Madisa Mine, Ishmael Kasvosve, Shahin Lockman, Sikhulile Moyo and Simani Gaseitsiwe
Viruses 2021, 13(4), 594; https://doi.org/10.3390/v13040594 - 31 Mar 2021
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 3919
Abstract
There are limited real-world mutational and virological outcomes data of treatment-experienced persons diagnosed with HIV-1 subtype C (HIV-1 C) who are failing Integrase Strand Transfer Inhibitor-based regimens. Requisition forms sent for HIV-1 genotypic resistance testing (GRT) between May 2015 and September 2019 were [...] Read more.
There are limited real-world mutational and virological outcomes data of treatment-experienced persons diagnosed with HIV-1 subtype C (HIV-1 C) who are failing Integrase Strand Transfer Inhibitor-based regimens. Requisition forms sent for HIV-1 genotypic resistance testing (GRT) between May 2015 and September 2019 were reviewed and participants experiencing virologic failure while on dolutegravir (DTG) or raltegravir (RAL) cART at sampling recruited. Sanger sequencing of the HIV-1 Pol gene was performed from residual plasma samples and drug resistance mutational (DRM) analysis performed using the Stanford University HIV drug resistance database. 40 HIV-1C integrase sequences were generated from 34 individuals, 24 of whom were on DTG cART, three on RAL cART and seven on an unknown (DTG or RAL)-anchored cART at time of GRT. 11/34 (32%) individuals had DRMs to DTG and other integrase inhibitors. 7/11 (64%) patients had exposure to a RAL-based cART at the time of sampling. Out of the 11 individuals with DRMs, one (9%) had 2-class, 6 (55%) had 3-class, and 4 (36%) had 4-class multidrug-resistant HIV-1C. 7/11 individuals (64%) are currently virologically suppressed. Of the four individuals not virologically suppressed, three had extensive DRMs involving 4-classes of ARV drugs and one individual has demised. Resistance to DTG occurs more often in patients exposed to RAL cART. Individuals with 4-class DRMs plus integrase T97 and E157Q mutations appear to have worse outcomes. There is a need for frequent VL monitoring and GRT amongst treatment-experienced HIV-1C diagnosed individuals. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

Review

Jump to: Research

9 pages, 586 KiB  
Review
HIV-1 Infection Transcriptomics: Meta-Analysis of CD4+ T Cells Gene Expression Profiles
by Antonio Victor Campos Coelho, Rossella Gratton, João Paulo Britto de Melo, José Leandro Andrade-Santos, Rafael Lima Guimarães, Sergio Crovella, Paola Maura Tricarico and Lucas André Cavalcanti Brandão
Viruses 2021, 13(2), 244; https://doi.org/10.3390/v13020244 - 4 Feb 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3159
Abstract
HIV-1 infection elicits a complex dynamic of the expression various host genes. High throughput sequencing added an expressive amount of information regarding HIV-1 infections and pathogenesis. RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) is currently the tool of choice to investigate gene expression in a several range [...] Read more.
HIV-1 infection elicits a complex dynamic of the expression various host genes. High throughput sequencing added an expressive amount of information regarding HIV-1 infections and pathogenesis. RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) is currently the tool of choice to investigate gene expression in a several range of experimental setting. This study aims at performing a meta-analysis of RNA-Seq expression profiles in samples of HIV-1 infected CD4+ T cells compared to uninfected cells to assess consistently differentially expressed genes in the context of HIV-1 infection. We selected two studies (22 samples: 15 experimentally infected and 7 mock-infected). We found 208 differentially expressed genes in infected cells when compared to uninfected/mock-infected cells. This result had moderate overlap when compared to previous studies of HIV-1 infection transcriptomics, but we identified 64 genes already known to interact with HIV-1 according to the HIV-1 Human Interaction Database. A gene ontology (GO) analysis revealed enrichment of several pathways involved in immune response, cell adhesion, cell migration, inflammation, apoptosis, Wnt, Notch and ERK/MAPK signaling. Full article
Show Figures

Graphical abstract

12 pages, 1525 KiB  
Review
Injectable Antiretroviral Drugs: Back to the Future
by Marco Berruti, Niccolò Riccardi, Diana Canetti, Sergio Lo Caputo, Lucia Taramasso and Antonio Di Biagio
Viruses 2021, 13(2), 228; https://doi.org/10.3390/v13020228 - 2 Feb 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3283
Abstract
Current HIV treatment regimens provide sustained virologic suppression, at least partially restore the immune system and have limited side effects; however, they do not allow viral eradication and they are burdened by daily pill intake with a life-long commitment for the people living [...] Read more.
Current HIV treatment regimens provide sustained virologic suppression, at least partially restore the immune system and have limited side effects; however, they do not allow viral eradication and they are burdened by daily pill intake with a life-long commitment for the people living with HIV (PHIV). Injectable agents might represent a turning point in the care of PHIV, allowing less frequent administration of antiretroviral treatment (ART), more widespread use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and more stable drug levels in the blood, thus increasing the odds to get closer to end the HIV pandemic. The aim of this manuscript is to give a comprehensive review of injectable antiretrovirals that have been used in the past, which are available now, will be available in the future, and their role in the treatment of HIV infection Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop