Gene Testing Cuts Side Effects

posted: 12/01/2011

Testing people before they start HIV treatment for specific genes could stop many people suffering treatment side effects and avoid the need to change HIV treatment, new research suggests.

Like any medicine, HIV treatment drugs can cause side-effects. There are 23 genetic variations HIV doctors can now use to predict bad reactions, before patient and doctor decide what treatment drugs would be best.

Gene variation says no to Abacavir
We know well that people who have an allergic reaction to the drug abacavir (Ziagen, also in the combination pills Kivexa and Trizivir) have a gene variation that can be easily found.

People should always be tested for this gene before they start treatment with this drug. If you are tested and your result is positive, you shouldn’t take abacavir.

Other genes for other drugs
Now researchers have found that some genes increase the risk of side-effects caused by several other anti-HIV drugs.

They tested 577 patients starting HIV treatment for the first time to see if they had variations in genes associated with certain side-effects.

These were mood and sleep problems caused by efavirenz (Sustiva, also in the combination pill Atripla), and a non-dangerous yellowing of the skin and eyes caused by atazanavir (Reyataz).

Genes – side effects up to 9 times worse

People taking efavirenz who have the warning gene have much higher rates of mood and sleep problems – these are three times worse if you have this ‘warning’ gene.

The risk of atazanavir-related side-effects was increased nine-fold among people with the ‘warning’ gene for that.

We need more research into drug side effects linked to genes, the researchers say.

More side effects information

For more information on the side-effects of HIV treatment, NAM and i-Base both produce good side-effects booklets
 

Nam booklet – Side Effects

i-Base booklet - HIV and your quality of life: a guide to side effects and other complications
 

HIV, treatments and genes website
There is a useful new website on HIV, drug treatments and genes – HIV pharmacogenomics

More information on genetics and HIV treatment

Source, with reference 

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Side Effects - a Better Quality of Life

posted: 22/12/2010

i-Base, the HIV treatment information organisation, have produced a new issue of their guide to HIV treatment, side effects and complications.

The guide should help you get better medical care and improved health. It should help you feel more in control of your treatment, and, most importantly, to get a better quality of life.
It has been written by people who are HIV-positive, who have used many of these treatments and had many of the side effects.
 

“Everyone worries about side effects before they start a new treatment.
I have changed treatment four times since 1996. This has always been related to side effects or because new research has shown I can change the dose.
Every time, my quality of life improved more than I expected, even switching from twice-daily to once-daily.
It always takes me a while to change, even when I know that other drugs could be better.
As the benefits from treatment are hopefully going to keep me alive for many years, I want to make sure I am on a combination that is effective, easy to take and tolerable–and that gives me the best quality-of-life.”

Read the guide online

Order a free printed copy

Download the pdf version 1.2 Mb
 

The guide has information on how to talk to your doctor about side effects. There are sections on each of the major side effects and medical and alternative treatments are included.
 

What's new?

This is the fifth edition of the guide HIV and your quality of life:  a guide to side effects and other complications, issued this December.
 

• It has been updated to include side effects of the latest drugs.
• There is less information on side effects of drugs that are now rarely used in the printed book, but all the details are still online. T-20, lactic acidosis, indinavir, d4T and abacavir hypersensitivity reactions are online, not in print.
• More information on long-term complications. These make a big difference to the best quality of life. For example, there are sections on bone and heart problems.
• There’s a new section on HIV and ageing, because this an essential part of living well with HIV.
• The guide includes comprehensive references in the online version. There are hyperlinks to over 250 documents. These include: the product information for each drug; UK, European and US treatment and management guidelines; and related studies that focus on safety and tolerability of drugs. Whenever possible we selected references that provide free full text access online.

Feedback and comments

i-Base welcome feedback and comments and you can tell them what you think in their online survey.
 

Conference Updates from Montreal

posted: 04/02/2009

CROI is one of the major scientific conferences of the year for HIV, and NAM will help you keep up with what is new in the very latest research presented in Montreal. You can sign up for conference updates from NAM.
 

Among the expected highlights of the conference will be:

• New information on how treatment reduces HIV transmission, with reports on its impact in Uganda, Rwanda and Zambia, as well as new data on viral shedding in people with undetectable viral loads 
• Can so-called 'intensification' approaches, using new drugs like raltegravir, reduce the amount of HIV-infected cells in the body?
• Prevention results from a large microbicide study, HPTN 035
• Large studies of long-term side-effects of antiretroviral treatment – what is the risk of heart attack in people taking antiretroviral drugs?
• Is HIV still causing brain problems such as memory loss, poor concentration and other cognitive difficulties in people taking long-term antiretroviral treatment?

NAM's conference news services

NAM will be reporting from the conference, publishing daily conference news stories on their their website aidsmap.com and you can sign up for a daily email bulletin that summarises of the key developments. The conference bulletin will also be available in French, Spanish, Portuguese and Russian.
 

CROI 2009 - 16th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections :: 8-11 February 2009, Montreal