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To determine the value contribution of cabotegravir + rilpivirine, the first injectable every two months long-acting antiretroviral regimen, using multi-criteria decision analysis.The study was developed in two phases. After a small pilot, a field ork study with a larger number of multidisciplinary experts was carried out. Seven single-tablet regimens, currently recommended by the GeSIDA guidelines, were selected as comparators. EVIDEM methodology was followed, with a framework composed by 12 quantitative and 5 contextual criteria. Mean and standard deviations were calculated for quantitative criteria (1 to 5 scale; comparative criteria -5 to +5), whereas qualitative criteria were analyzed as percentages of experts that considered a positive, neutral or negative impact for the National Health System.35 experts participated in the study. Human immunodeficiency virus- 1 infection was considered severe (mean ± standard deviation: 3.0 ± 1.0), with moderate size of affected population (2.7 ± 1.2) and unmet needs (2.8 ± 1.0). Minimal differences were found in comparative efficacy/effectiveness (0.1 ± 0.5), safety/tolerability (-0.5 ± 0.7), and cost criteria: cost of the intervention (0.5 ± 2.0), other medical costs (0.2 ± 1.8) and non- medical/indirect costs (0.5 ± 1.6). Experts perceived an improvement with cabotegravir + rilpivirine long-acting, compared to current daily oral single-tablet regimens, in patient-reported outcomes (2.7 ± 1.4). Therapeutic benefit of the long-acting regimen was considered moderate-to-high (3.5 ± 1.2). Experts considered the evidence provided by cabotegravir + rilpivirine long- actingrobust (4.3 ± 0.8), with elevated consensus on its future recommendation in guidelines (3.2 ± 1.0). In contextual criteria, most experts considered positive the impact on population priorities and access (91%), common goal and specific interests (63%) and political, historical, and cultural context criteria (60%). Impact was neutral in system capacity and appropriate use (40%), and opportunity costs and affordability criteria (51%). Result of the weighted global value contribution of cabotegravir + rilpivirine long-acting was 0.34 (-1 to +1 scale), with Patient Reported Outcomes comparative criterion bringing the highest added value.Cabotegravir + rilpivirine long-acting provides added value contribution to human immunodeficiency virus-1 management in Spain compared to daily oral single-tablet regimens. Patient Reported Outcomes and therapeutic benefit of cabotegravir + rilpivirine long-acting were highly valued by experts, as the expected benefit in adherence and stigma-related issues would improve overall quality of life for people living with human immunodeficiency virus-1.Determinar la contribución de valor de cabotegravir + rilpivirina, el primer tratamiento antirretroviral inyectable de acción prolongada, utilizando metodología de análisis de decisión multicriterio.Método: El estudio se desarrolló en dos fases: una prueba piloto y una fase de extensión, con un grupo multidisciplinar más grande. Se seleccionaron siete regímenes de comprimido único orales diarios recomendados en las guías GeSIDA como comparadores. Se utilizó el marco EVIDEM, compuesto por 12 criterios cuantitativos y 5 contextuales. Los criterios cuantitativos se analizaron calculando la media y desviación estándar, y los cualitativos se analizaron mediante el porcentaje de expertos que consideraron el impacto positivo, neutro o negativo para el Sistema Nacional de Salud.Un total de 35 expertos participaron en el estudio. La infección por virus de la inmunodeficiencia humana 1 se consideró grave (media ± desviación estándar: 3,0 ± 1,0), con un tamaño de población afectada (2,7 ± 1,2) y unas necesidades no cubiertas (2,8 ± 1,0) moderadas. Las diferencias fueron mínimas en los criterios comparativos de eficacia/efectividad (0,1 ± 0,5), seguridad/tolerabilidad (–0,5 ± 0,7) y coste: coste del tratamiento (0,5 ± 2,0), otros costes médicos (0,2 ± 1,8) y costes no-médicos/indirectos (0,5 ± 1,6). Los expertos observaron una emtrimejora con cabotegravir + rilpivirina de acción prolongada en los resultados reportados por los pacientes (2,7 ± 1,4). El beneficio terapéutico (3,5 ± 1,2) se consideró moderado-alto. La evidencia de cabotegravir + rilpivirina de acción prolongada fue considerada robusta (4,3 ± 0,8), con elevado consenso sobre su futura recomendación en las guías (3,2 ± 1,0). En los criterios contextuales, el impacto fue positivo en los criterios de prioridades de acceso (91%), objetivo común (63%) y contexto político (60%). El impacto fue neutro en la capacidad del sistema (40%) y los costes de oportunidad (51%). El resultado promedio de la contribución del valor global de cabotegravir + rilpivirina de acción prolongada fue de 0,34 (escala de –1 a +1), siendo el criterio de resultados reportados por el paciente el que proporcionó la mayor contribución de valor (0,04).Cabotegravir + rilpivirina de acción prolongada aporta un valor añadido en el manejo del virus de la inmunodeficiencia humana 1 en España en comparación con los regímenes de comprimido único utilizados actualmente. Los expertos valoraron positivamente los resultados reportados por los pacientes y el beneficio terapéutico de cabotegravir + rilpivirina de acción prolongada, considerando que el beneficio esperado en la adherencia y los problemas relacionados con el estigma produciría una mejora en la calidad de vida de las personas con virus de la inmunodeficiencia humana 1.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) remains incurable due to latent viral reservoirs established in non-activated CD4 T cells that cannot be eliminated via antiretroviral therapy. Current efforts to cure HIV are focused on identifying drugs that will induce viral gene expression in latently infected cells, commonly known as latency reversing agents (LRAs). Some drugs have been shown to reactivate latent HIV but do not cause a reduction in reservoir size. Therefore, finding new LRAs or new combinations or increasing the round of stimulations is needed to cure HIV. However, the effects of these drugs on viral rebound after prolonged treatment have not been evaluated. In a previous clinical trial, antiretroviral therapy intensification with maraviroc for 48 weeks caused an increase in residual viremia and episomal two LTR-DNA circles suggesting that maraviroc could reactivate latent HIV. We amended the initial clinical trial to explore additional virologic parameters in stored samples and to evaluate the time to viral rebound during analytical treatment interruption in three patients. Maraviroc induced an increase in cell-associated HIV RNA during the administration of the drug. However, there was a rapid rebound of viremia after antiretroviral therapy discontinuation. HIV-specific T cell response was slightly enhanced. These results show that maraviroc can reactivate latent HIV in vivo but further studies are required to efficiently reduce the reservoir size.

Resumen Introduccion El objetivo de este estudio es estimar el impacto economico en Espana de la optimizacion del tratamiento antirretroviral (TAR) triple en pacientes con carga viral suprimida segun las recomendaciones GeSIDA/PNS (2015) y su aplicabilidad en la practica clinica. Metodos A partir de los datos de prescripcion del TAR de la encuesta hospitalaria 2014, siguiendo las recomendaciones de GeSIDA/PNS de optimizacion de TAR con grado de evidencia A- I , se desarrollo un modelo farmacoeconomico. Las pautas de optimizacion, la voluntad de optimizacion y demas asunciones y resultados del modelo fueron validados por un panel de expertos en la infeccion por VIH (infectologos y farmaceuticos hospitalarios). El analisis se realizo desde la perspectiva del SNS, considerando el coste farmacologico anual, precio de venta del laboratorio notificado, deduccion RD-Ley-8/2010 e IVA. Resultados El panel selecciono 6 estrategias de optimizacion y estimo que en Espana de los 80.859 pacientes actualmente en TAR triple, 10.863 (13,4%) serian candidatos a optimizar su TAR segun estas estrategias, generando ahorros de 15,9 M €/ano (2,4% del coste farmacologico del TAR triple). Las estrategias mas factibles (> 40% del total de pacientes candidatos a optimizar, n = 4.556) y asociadas a mayores reducciones del gasto (ahorro entre 653 y 4.797 €/paciente-ano segun el TAR triple de partida) serian las optimizaciones a ATV/r + 3TC. Conclusion La aplicacion a la practica clinica espanola de las principales estrategias de optimizacion recomendadas en el documento GeSIDA/PNS (2015) generaria ahorros sustanciales, especialmente aquellas basadas en biterapia con ATV + 3TC, contribuyendo asi al control del gasto farmaceutico y a la sostenibilidad del SNS.

In this study, we have characterized quasispecies dynamics and the evolution of viral tropism in naive HIV-1-infected patients treated with a short course of maraviroc monotherapy (ClinicalTrials.gov registration no. NCT01060618) independently of the tropism of the infecting virus. We randomly selected 20 patients infected with viruses displaying different basal tropisms-10 carrying R5 and 10 carrying dual/mixed X4 (DM/X4) viruses-at recruitment as determined by phenotypic assay (Trofile). Evolution of viral quasiespecies at the end of treatment was determined by ultradeep sequencing of the V3 region using a 454 Life Sciences Platform and geno2pheno (g2p) algorithm for viral tropism prediction. The false-positive rate (FPR) that defines the probability of classifying an R5 virus falsely as X4 was set at 10%. X4-specific HIV-1 viral load (VL) was calculated from sequences with an FPR of 1-log10 copies/ml reduction in VL was detected in 70% of patients independently of the basal tropism of the infecting virus. Viral tropism remained stable, and nonsignificant differences in FPR values before and after treatment were found for the majority of patients in both tropism groups. Only three patients (one with R5 and two with DM/X4 viruses) showed an increased (>1 log) X4 VL, and one patient harboring a DM/X4-tropic virus displayed a significant reduction in FPR values at the end of treatment. Fast changes in the composition of viral populations were observed in all patients after 10 days of maraviroc (MVC) monotherapy treatment, and a complete replacement of viral quasiespecies was found in 3/10 patients carrying R5-using viruses and 4/10 patients carrying DM/X4-using viruses.IMPORTANCE Initiation of treatment with maraviroc requires previous determination of viral tropism by genotypic or phenotypic methods because of the risk of treatment failure and selection of DM/X4-tropic variants. In this study, we confirm previous work showing that the virologic response to maraviroc is independent of basal tropism. By deep-sequencing analysis, we determined that fast changes in viral populations were due to the emergence of minority variants in some patients whereas in others generation of new strains was detected. The risk of DM/X4 selection was very low as FPR values remained stable, and only one patient showed a detrimental switch to DM/X4 variants. Our data show that some DM/X4 viruses are sensitive to maraviroc treatment probably because only a low proportion of DM/X4 viruses use preferentially the X4 receptor and contain authentically maraviroc-resistant viruses that are not accurately detected by current assays. We thank Olga Palao (AIDS Immunopathogenesis Unit) and A. Zaballos (Genomics Unit, Instituto de Salud Carlos III) for their secretarial and technical assistance, respectively. We also greatly appreciate our patients for their willingness to participate. Sí

Maraviroc is a CCR5 antagonist used in the treatment of HIV-1 infection. We and others have suggested that maraviroc could reactivate latent HIV-1. To test the latency-reversing potential of maraviroc and the mechanisms involved, we performed a phase II, single-center, open-label study in which maraviroc was administered for 10 days to 20 HIV-1-infected individuals on suppressive antiretroviral therapy (EudraCT registration no. 2012-003215-66). All patients completed full maraviroc dosing and follow-up. The primary endpoint was to study whether maraviroc may reactivate HIV-1 latency, eliciting signaling pathways involved in the viral reactivation. An increase in HIV-1 transcription in resting CD4 + T cells, estimated by levels of HIV-1 unspliced RNA, was observed. Moreover, activation of the NF-κB transcription factor was observed in these cells. To elucidate the mechanism of NF-κB activation by maraviroc, we have evaluated in HeLa P4 C5 cells, which stably express CCR5, whether maraviroc could be acting as a partial CCR5 agonist, with no other mechanisms or pathways involved. Our results show that maraviroc can induce NF-κB activity and that NF-κB targets gene expression by CCR5 binding, since the use of TAK779, a CCR5 inhibitor, blocked NF-κB activation and functionality. Taking the results together, we show that maraviroc may have a role in the activation of latent virus transcription through the activation of NF-κB as a result of binding CCR5. Our results strongly support a novel use of maraviroc as a potential latency reversal agent in HIV-1-infected patients. IMPORTANCE HIV-1 persistence in a small pool of long-lived latently infected resting CD4 + T cells is a major barrier to viral eradication in HIV-1-infected patients on antiretroviral therapy. A potential strategy to cure HIV-1-infection is the use of latency-reversing agents to eliminate the reservoirs established in resting CD4 + T cells. As no drug has been shown to be completely effective so far, the search for new drugs and combinations remains a priority for HIV cure. We examined the ability of maraviroc, a CCR5 antagonist used as an antiretroviral drug, to activate latent HIV-1 in infected individuals on antiretroviral therapy. The study showed that maraviroc can activate NF-κB and, subsequently, induce latent HIV-1-transcription in resting CD4 + T cells from HIV-1-infected individuals on suppressive antiretroviral therapy. Additional interventions will be needed to eliminate latent HIV-1 infection. Our results suggest that maraviroc may be a new latency-reversing agent to interfere with HIV-1 persistence during antiretroviral therapy.

Background Screening of anal cancer in HIV-infected MSM with anal cytology results in high rates of false positive results and elevated burden of high-resolution anoscopies. High-risk HPV up-regulates p16 and Ki67 expression in epithelial cells. We assessed the usefulness of P16/Ki-67 immunostaining cytology for the diagnosis of precancerous anal lesions. Methodology Cross-sectional multicenter study. Concomitant anal liquid cytology with p16/Ki-67 immunostaining and HRA with biopsy of acetowhite lugol-negative lesions was performed in HIV-infected MSM. We compared the diagnostic performance of an abnormal anal cytology and p16/Ki-67 immunostaining relative to HRA-guided biopsy by logistic regression and comparison of ROC areas. Results We included 328 HIV-infected MSM. HSIL was histologically diagnosed in 72 subjects (25.1%), and 2 (0.6%) were diagnosed with anal cancer. An abnormal cytology showed a sensitivity of 95.6% and a specificity of 58.8% for the diagnosis of biopsy-proven HSIL. P16/Ki67 positivity was associated with the presence of biopsy-proven HSIL (P trend = 0.004) but with low sensitivity (41.2%) and specificity (71%). The combination of standard cytology with P16/Ki67 immunostaining did not increment the predictive value of standard cytology alone (AUC 0.685 vs. 0.673, respectively, P = 0.688). Conclusion In HIV-infected MSM P16/Ki67 immunostaining does not improve the diagnostic accuracy of anal cytology, which shows a high sensitivity yet poor specificity. Other approaches aimed at improving the diagnostic accuracy of current techniques for the diagnostic of precancerous HSIL are warranted.