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Purpose: Recurrence of tuberculosis (TB) can be the consequence of relapse or exogenous reinfection. The study aimed to assess the factors associated with exogenous TB reinfection., Methods: Prospective cohort study based on the TB database, maintained at the Division of Infectious Diseases, Luigi Sacco Hospital (Milan, Italy). Time period: 1995-2010., Inclusion Criteria: (1) ≥2 episodes of culture-confirmed TB; (2) cure of the first episode of TB; (3) availability of one Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolate for each episode. Genotyping of the M. tuberculosis strains to differentiate relapse and exogenous reinfection. Logistic regression analysis was used to assess the influence of risk factors on exogenous reinfections., Result: Of the 4682 patients with TB, 83 were included. Of these, exogenous reinfection was diagnosed in 19 (23 %). It was independently associated with absence of multidrug resistance at the first episode [0, 10 (0.01-0.95), p = 0.045] and with prolonged interval between the first TB episode and its recurrence [7.38 (1.92-28.32) p = 0.004]. However, TB relapses occurred until 4 years after the first episode. The risk associated with being foreign born, extrapulmonary site of TB, and HIV infection was not statistically significant. In the relapse and re-infection cohort, one-third of the patients showed a worsened drug resistance profile during the recurrent TB episode., Conclusions: Exogenous TB reinfections have been documented in low endemic areas, such as Italy. A causal association with HIV infection could not be confirmed. Relapses and exogenous reinfections shared an augmented risk of multidrug resistance development, frequently requiring the use of second-line anti-TB regimens.

Introduction: The optimal timing and modality of therapeutic intervention during early phases of HIV infection is still debated; in our prospective observational study we evaluated immunological and virological outcome in HIV+ patients treated during acute or recent HIV infection., Materials and Methods: A total of 25 naïve patients with acute (detectable HIV-RNA, immature Western Blot) or recent (documented infection within six months) HIV infection were recruited at the Infectious Diseases Units of the University of Milan and Turin from 2009 to 2014. Patients received treatment with two NRTIs+one NNRTI/bPI, with or without an induction phase with an additional fourth drug (raltegravir or maraviroc) until HIV-RNA undetectability maintained for six months. Blood samples for HIV-RNA, lymphocyte subsets and tropism assessment were obtained at the beginning of the treatment (BL). Patients underwent subsequent six-monthly follow up for clinical outcome, CD4 cell count and HIV-RNA up to 18 months., Results: Median increase in CD4 cells from 0 to 12 months was greater in patients treated during acute (n=18) versus recent (n=7) infection [284/µL, IQR (227-456) versus 176/µL, IQR (70-235); Mann-Whitney test, p=0.046]. This higher value was maintained through 18 months, although failing to reach statistical significance. Patients with acute or recent infection did not significantly differ in virological success (83.3% versus 85.7% at 12 months). We considered CD4 cells gains at six months (multivariate analysis, ANCOVA; Figure 1) and detected an inverse correlation with CD4 levels at BL (r=-0.517; p=0.008) and a direct correlation with the status of acute infection (r=0.234, p NS). This last correlation reached statistical significance at 12 months (r=0.418, p=0.035), whereas the inverse correlation with CD4 levels at BL was still present without a statistical significance (r=-0.350; p=0.072). Patients treated with three or four drugs did not show any significant difference in immunological nor virological response (Mann-Whitney and χ(2) test). Modification or interruption of therapy for tolerability took place in 4 out of 25 patients, all while receiving four drugs; two patients underwent STI between 12 and 18 months following virological success., Conclusions: Treatment of primary infection appeared to be effective in preserving the pool of CD4 cells in acute more than recent infection. There was no evidence of a different outcome through the addition of a fourth drug to the standard treatment.

HIV drug resistance still represents a crucial problem in antiretroviral therapy. We report a case of a naive patient, harboring a CRF11-cpx virus, which showed drug resistance mutations in the reverse transcriptase. A drug resistance genotyping test was performed for the pol (protease, reverse transcriptase, and integrase) and V3 regions. The initial clinical parameter results showed a 4 log level of HIV-RNA (12,090 cp/ml) and a very low CD4(+) cell count (35 cells/μl). We designed an initial highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) regimen including lamivudine (3TC)+abacavir (ABC)+booster ritonavir (DRV/r). The virus was highly resistant to all nucleoside and nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) and nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) except for ABC, tenofovir (TDF), and efavirenz (EFV) and was susceptible to all protease inhibitors (PIs) and integrase inhibitors (INIs). A salvage regimen including raltegravir (RAL)+DRV/r was started. Ten months later, the immunovirological status shows CD4(+) 142/μl and HIV-RNA <37 cp/ml. Our results demonstrate the effectiveness of a treatment combination that includes RAL+DRV/r in a patient infected with a complex X4-tropic CRF11-cpx virus.

Background: Immunological non-responders (INRs) lacked CD4 increase despite HIV-viremia suppression on HAART and had an increased risk of disease progression. We assessed immune reconstitution profile upon intensification with maraviroc in INRs., Methods: We designed a multi-centric, randomized, parallel, open label, phase 4 superiority trial. We enrolled 97 patients on HAART with CD4+<200/µL and/or CD4+ recovery ≤ 25% and HIV-RNA<50 cp/mL. Patients were randomized 1:1 to HAART+maraviroc or continued HAART. CD4+ and CD8+ CD45+RA/RO, Ki67 expression and plasma IL-7 were quantified at W0, W12 and W48., Results: By W48 both groups displayed a CD4 increase without a significant inter-group difference. A statistically significant change in CD8 favored patients in arm HAART+maraviroc versus HAART at W12 (p=.009) and W48 (p=.025). The CD4>200/µL and CD4>200/µL + CD4 gain ≥ 25% end-points were not satisfied at W12 (p=.24 and p=.619) nor at W48 (p=.076 and p=.236). Patients continuing HAART displayed no major changes in parameters of T-cell homeostasis and activation. Maraviroc-receiving patients experienced a significant rise in circulating IL-7 by W48 (p=.01), and a trend in temporary reduction in activated HLA-DR+CD38+CD4+ by W12 (p=.06) that was not maintained at W48., Conclusions: Maraviroc intensification in INRs did not have a significant advantage in reconstituting CD4 T-cell pool, but did substantially expand CD8. It resulted in a low rate of treatment discontinuations., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00884858 http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT00884858.