The Toxicity Effects Of Stavudine ( D4t )

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 50,000 people are infected with HIV each year. In 2010, the most recent year for which this information is available, there were around 47,500 new HIV infections in the United States (p. 1). The population of people with HIV is diverse due to the fact that it does not discriminate. Men and women of any age,

Nearly three decades ago, there was an increase in deaths of HIV in sub-Saharan Africa. Developing countries have experienced the greatest HIV/AIDS morbidity and mortality, with the highest prevalence rates recorded in young adults in sub-Saharan Africa. In South Africa over three million people are killed by this disease (Macfarlene3). After this epidemic spreaded in Africa and killed people it branched out to other countries in the world.

Transcriptase is an enzyme that catalyzes the formation of DNA from an RNA template in reverse transcription.

We have been aware of HIV and AIDS since the 1970s (Miller, 2012), and though there have been treatments and reduction in the number of people infected, the disease remains. The disease results in death usually following opportunistic infections as a result of AIDS destruction of the immune system, but thanks to modern medicine “many people

b. HIV is an incurable disease that relies on coreceptors to initiate host cell interaction and proliferates by utilizing the host cell’s own machinery to reproduce new virus. We will more deeply explore the mechanism in which HIV virions infiltrate and deceive our host cell. In addition, we will discuss current treatment and research that are in the process of finding a highly coveted cure.

Since the arrival of triple therapy, the challenge of sustained and complete viral suppression has been solved for the majority of patients [1]. The major limiting factors for improving the long-term success of ART are tolerability and convenient pill burden [2]. The latest class of the antiretroviral drug developed are Integrase inhibitors (INI). Dolutegravir (DTG) is an Integrase inhibitor, particularly focused on maintaining a favorable safety profile and a high efficiency rate, within a single-tablet regime (STR), it improves resistance barrier and allowing co-formulation with an NRTI backbone. Dolutegravir has been compared against both other classes of HIV anti-retrovirals as well as other integrase nuclear strand inhibitors. In August 2013, DTG was approved by FDA for its use in both patients who have never taken ART (ART-naïve) and patients who have taken ART (ART-experienced) [3]. It is predicted that very soon a STR containing Dolutegravir (DTG), abacavir (ABC) and lamivudine (3TC) will become

infected cells, have opened new avenues for strategies for HIV vaccine design” (39). These antibodies

A disease is the destruction in the function of a human which leads to specific symptoms which in turn affects specific sites and are not results of physical injury. Protease cleaves longer proteins into shorter core proteins via proteolysis this is the process whereby hydrolysis of the peptide bonds occur that links subsequent amino acids to a polypeptide chain (Kohei Oda 2012). It is therefore crucial for the effectiveness of an infectious virus. Protease Inhibitors bind to the active sites of these proteases which in turn inhibits the passage of the protein from becoming shorter units (virions) in order to remain non-infectious. One such example is seen in the Human Immuno-defiency Virus commonly known HIV. In a video Dr. Rufus Rajadurai extensively explained the invasion process of the HIV virus into the uninfected cell of a human to the point of infection

Another example is Talimogene Iaherparepvec (OncoVEX GM-CSF), which is developed by Bio Vex, which later was purchased by Amgen for $ 1 billion in 2011 [21]. The virus is based on herpes simplex (HSV-1) and in March 2013, the virus has successfully completed a phase three trial for advanced melanoma [22]. It is expected to be the first oncolytic agent to be approved in the west. Also, it was examined in a phase one trial for pancreatic cancer and

HIV has evolved in new varieties over the last dozen years. The virus is constantly changing due to natural selection and the environment of the patient's body. Inside the body, HIV replicates and every time it reproduces, random genetic copying mistakes mutations result in slightly different varieties of the virus going into the bloodstream. Some of these varieties will have traits that will make them resistant to certain drugs. Natural selection favors the drug resistant forms, causing them to survive and reproduce while causing medication to not work. It was discovered in 1970, that a patient suffering with HIV whose medication did not work, by going off the drugs made his virus population soon change from being resistant to every drug to then being susceptible. This was caused by the environment change in the body when stopping the medication. The non-resistant wild-type came back and started to replicate and soon outnumbered the drug-resistant strains. This resulted in a new treatment used today. If you take a patient that is resistant to medication, off the drugs for a certain amount of time and the virus reverts to the non-resistance wild-type, then hit it hard with a combination of drugs.

In the past four decades, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has been discovered, developed into an international epidemic, and

GDEPT is a two-step treatment strategy where the gene that encodes a prodrug-activating nonendogenous enzyme is selectively transferred to target tissues. The most commonly used gene delivery vectors are cationic lipids, peptides, and viral vectors (i.e., retroviruses, adenoviruses, and adeno-associated viruses). Subsequently, inactive prodrug is delivered systemically and converted to its active cytotoxic drug by the nonendogenous enzyme expressed in the target tissues. The effectiveness of GDEPT depends on several factors, including level of enzyme expression at the target site, prodrug activation efficiency, and the capability of the active cytotoxic drug to diffuse into adjacent cells. The most frequently used enzyme/prodrug systems include

Although ninety-five percent of people living with HIV/AIDS are in developing countries, the impact of this epidemic is global. In South Africa, where one in four adults are living with the disease, HIV/AIDS means almost certain death for those infected. In developed countries however, the introduction of antiretroviral drugs has meant HIV/AIDS is treated as a chronic condition rather than a killer disease. In developing countries like South Africa, the drugs that allow people to live with the disease elsewhere in the world, are simply too expensive for individuals and governments to afford at market price.

Hepatotoxicity is an injury to the liver that is caused by exposure to a drug or other infectious agent. The understanding and treatment of hepatotoxicity has developed rapidly over the last 40 years reducing morbidity and mortality from. Progress had been made by the study of different animal models that shows the clinical, biochemical and histological characteristics of the hepatotoxicity seen in man. This review examines the various approaches to the study of hepatotoxicity in animal models, including both surgical and pharmacological approaches. Hepatotoxicity carries a very high mortality of 80–90% in all over the world. Advances in the field of artificial liver support systems are hindered by the lack of a standard clinically relevant model of hepatotoxicity. For the last 30 years several animal models have been used with limited success. Each model often reflects a particular aspect of hepatotoxicity. Species susceptibility to hepatotoxins and their response to surgical intervention have limited the choice of models. Small animal models have been used extensively for many, but the need for a robust and repeatable larger animal model that can be used to assess potential therapies has not yet been achieved. This review examines the requirements of an animal model, and the techniques that have been used so far.

Antisense-based therapeutics have attracted much interest as a novel class of agents for the treatment of ‘viral infections, cancers and genetic disorders due to their