Reformulation of existing antiretroviral drugs

Exploring the Potential of Nanotechnology in Pediatric Healthcare: Advances, Challenges, and Future Directions

The utilization of nanotechnology has brought about notable advancements in the field of pediatric medicine, providing novel approaches for drug delivery, disease diagnosis, and tissue engineering. Nanotechnology involves the manipulation of materials at the nanoscale, resulting in improved drug effectiveness and decreased toxicity. Numerous nanosystems, including nanoparticles, nanocapsules, and nanotubes, have been explored for their therapeutic potential in addressing pediatric diseases such as HIV, leukemia, and neuroblastoma. Nanotechnology has also shown promise in enhancing disease diagnosis accuracy, drug availability, and overcoming the blood-brain barrier obstacle in treating medulloblastoma. It is important to acknowledge that while nanotechnology offers significant opportunities, there are inherent risks and limitations associated with the use of nanoparticles. This review provides a comprehensive summary of the existing literature on nanotechnology in pediatric medicine, highlighting its potential to revolutionize pediatric healthcare while also recognizing the challenges and limitations that need to be addressed.

Identifying appropriate candidates for long-acting antiretroviral therapy: findings from a survey of health care providers in the ATLAS-2M trial

INTRODUCTION

Recent results from Phase 3 clinical trials with cabotegravir (CAB) and rilpivirine (RPV) long-acting (LA) have shown that a monthly regimen is non-inferior to daily oral antiretroviral therapy (ART). Additional insights are necessary to prepare for LA ART roll-out, including identifying the appropriate patients.

METHODS

Within the ATLAS-2M trial, an online survey was administered to 329 health care providers (HCPs) in 13 countries. Multivariate logistic regression was conducted to identify factors associated with providers considering a greater proportion of patients as appropriate LA ART candidates.

RESULTS

Forty-seven percent of HCPs believed that "some" patients (25-50%) would be appropriate while nearly one-quarter of HCPs (23%) felt that "many" patients (more than 50%) would be appropriate candidates for LA ART. Providers in the African region had a greater odds of identifying a greater proportion of their patients as appropriate candidates (AOR 8.97; p < 0.001) vs. other regions. Nurses/physician assistants and research staff/pharmacists had a higher odds of perceiving a greater proportion of their patients as appropriate candidates vs. physicians, respectively (AOR 3.42 p < 0.001; AOR 2.48; p = 0.19). Providers who had experience transitioning patients from LA to oral ART had a higher odds of reporting that more of their patients would be appropriate candidates (AOR 1.64; p = 0.008) vs. those without experience.

CONCLUSION

A significant proportion of providers reported that many of their patients would be appropriate candidates for LA ART. To optimize roll-out after regulatory approval, it is important to support providers with tools to help identify patients who would most benefit from this option.

Differences in virologic and immunologic response to antiretroviral therapy among HIV-1-infected infants and children

BACKGROUND

Virologic and immunologic responses to antiretroviral treatment (ART) in infants may differ from older children due to immunologic, clinical, or epidemiologic characteristics.

METHODS

Longitudinal ART responses were modeled and compared in HIV-infected infants and children enrolled in cohorts in Nairobi, Kenya. Participants were enrolled soon after HIV diagnosis, started on ART, and followed for 2 years. Viral load decline was compared between infant and child cohorts using a nonlinear mixed effects model and CD4% reconstitution using a linear mixed effects model.

RESULTS

Among 121 infants, median age at ART was 3.9 months; among 124 children, median age was 4.8 years. At baseline, viral load was higher among infants than children (6.47 vs. 5.91 log10 copies/ml, P < 0.001). Infants were less likely than children to suppress viral load to less than 250 copies/ml following 6 months of ART (32% infants vs. 73% children, P < 0.0001). CD4% was higher at baseline in infants than children (19 vs. 7.3%, P < 0.001). Older children had more rapid CD4% reconstitution than infants, but failed to catch up to infant CD4%.

CONCLUSION

Despite substantially higher CD4% at ART initiation, viral suppression was significantly slower among infants than older children. New strategies are needed to optimize infant outcomes on ART.

Drug delivery strategies and systems for HIV/AIDS pre-exposure prophylaxis and treatment

The year 2016 will mark an important milestone - the 35th anniversary of the first reported cases of HIV/AIDS. Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) including Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) drug regimens is widely considered to be one of the greatest achievements in therapeutic drug research having transformed HIV infection into a chronically managed disease. Unfortunately, the lack of widespread preventive measures and the inability to eradicate HIV from infected cells highlight the significant challenges remaining today. Moving forward there are at least three high priority goals for anti-HIV drug delivery (DD) research: (1) to prevent new HIV infections from occurring, (2) to facilitate a functional cure, i.e., when HIV is present but the body controls it without drugs and (3) to eradicate established infection. Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) represents a significant step forward in preventing the establishment of chronic HIV infection. However, the ultimate success of PrEP will depend on achieving sustained antiretroviral (ARV) tissue concentrations and will require strict patient adherence to the regimen. While first generation long acting/extended release (LA/ER) DD Systems (DDS) currently in development show considerable promise, significant DD treatment and prevention challenges persist. First, there is a critical need to improve cell specificity through targeting in order to selectively achieve efficacious drug concentrations in HIV reservoir sites to control/eradicate HIV as well as mitigate systemic side effects. In addition, approaches for reducing cellular efflux and metabolism of ARV drugs to prolong effective concentrations in target cells need to be developed. Finally, given the current understanding of HIV pathogenesis, next generation anti-HIV DDS need to address selective DD to the gut mucosa and lymph nodes. The current review focuses on the DDS technologies, critical challenges, opportunities, strategies, and approaches by which novel delivery systems will help iterate towards prevention, functional cure and eventually the eradication of HIV infection.