Papers by Carolina Garrido
PLOS Pathogens, 2015
Eradication of HIV infection will require the identification of all cellular reservoirs that harb... more Eradication of HIV infection will require the identification of all cellular reservoirs that harbor latent infection. Despite low or lack of CD4 receptor expression on Vδ2 T cells, infection of these cells has previously been reported. We found that upregulation of the CD4 receptor may render primary Vδ2 cells target for HIV infection in vitro and we propose that HIV-induced immune activation may allow infection of γδ T cells in vivo. We assessed the presence of latent HIV infection by measurements of DNA and outgrowth assays within Vδ2 cells in 18 aviremic patients on long-standing antiretroviral therapy. In 14 patients we recovered latent but replication-competent HIV from highly purified Vδ2 cells demonstrating that peripheral Vδ2 T cells are a previously unrecognized reservoir in which latent HIV infection is unexpectedly frequent.
The Journal of clinical investigation, Jan 28, 2015
Enhancement of HIV-specific immunity is likely required to eliminate latent HIV infection. Here, ... more Enhancement of HIV-specific immunity is likely required to eliminate latent HIV infection. Here, we have developed an immunotherapeutic modality aimed to improve T cell-mediated clearance of HIV-1-infected cells. Specifically, we employed Dual-Affinity Re-Targeting (DART) proteins, which are bispecific, antibody-based molecules that can bind 2 distinct cell-surface molecules simultaneously. We designed DARTs with a monovalent HIV-1 envelope-binding (Env-binding) arm that was derived from broadly binding, antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity-mediating antibodies known to bind to HIV-infected target cells coupled to a monovalent CD3 binding arm designed to engage cytolytic effector T cells (referred to as HIVxCD3 DARTs). Thus, these DARTs redirected polyclonal T cells to specifically engage with and kill Env-expressing cells, including CD4+ T cells infected with different HIV-1 subtypes, thereby obviating the requirement for HIV-specific immunity. Using lymphocytes from patients o...
Future medicinal chemistry, 2015
Antiretroviral therapy (ART) has improved lifespan and quality of life of patients infected with ... more Antiretroviral therapy (ART) has improved lifespan and quality of life of patients infected with the HIV-1. However, ART has several potential limitations, including the development of drug resistance and suboptimal penetration to selected anatomic compartments. Improving the delivery of antiretroviral molecules could overcome several of the limitations of current ART. Two to ten nanometer diameter inorganic gold crystals serve as a base scaffold to combine molecules with an array of properties in its surface. We show entry into different cell types, antiviral activity of an HIV integrase inhibitor conjugated in a gold nanoparticle and penetration into the brain in vivo without toxicity. Herein, gold nanoparticles prove to be a promising tool to use in HIV therapy.
Journal of neurovirology, Jan 25, 2014
Too controversial to discuss only a short time ago, achieving a cure for HIV infection has become... more Too controversial to discuss only a short time ago, achieving a cure for HIV infection has become a priority in HIV research. However, substantial challenges must be overcome. Among key hurdles to be surmounted is the definition of a reliable, validated model in which to test latency reversal agents (LRAs), as current primary cell models differ in their response to such agents. Animal models such as the HIV-infected humanized BLT mouse and SIV-infected macaque will be essential to study LRAs and to quantify their effects in anatomic reservoirs. Of several potential anatomic reservoirs, the central nervous system presents a significant obstacle, as it is known to harbor persistent HIV infection and is difficult to access for study and therapeutic intervention.
Nature reviews. Microbiology, 2014
Effective antiretroviral therapy (ART) blunts viraemia, which enables HIV-1-infected individuals ... more Effective antiretroviral therapy (ART) blunts viraemia, which enables HIV-1-infected individuals to control infection and live long, productive lives. However, HIV-1 infection remains incurable owing to the persistence of a viral reservoir that harbours integrated provirus within host cellular DNA. This latent infection is unaffected by ART and hidden from the immune system. Recent studies have focused on the development of therapies to disrupt latency. These efforts unmasked residual viral genomes and highlighted the need to enable the clearance of latently infected cells, perhaps via old and new strategies that improve the HIV-1-specific immune response. In this Review, we explore new approaches to eradicate established HIV-1 infection and avoid the burden of lifelong ART.
The Journal of infectious diseases, Jan 13, 2015
Enhanced HIV-specific immunity may be required for HIV eradication. Administration of autologous,... more Enhanced HIV-specific immunity may be required for HIV eradication. Administration of autologous, ex-vivo expanded, virus-specific, cytotoxic T-lymphocytes derived from HIV infected patients on suppressive antiretroviral therapy (HXTCs) are a powerful tool for proof-of-concept studies. Broadly specific, polyclonal HXTCs resulting from ex-vivo expansion demonstrated improved control of autologous reservoir virus compared to bulk CD8+ T-cells in viral inhibition assays. Furthermore, patient-derived HXTCs were able to clear latently infected autologous resting CD4+ T-cells following exposure to the latency reversing agent, vorinostat. HXTCs will be ideal reagents to administer with precise control in future in-vivo studies in combination with latency reversing agents.
Enfermedades infecciosas y microbiología clínica, 2008
Integrase inhibitors are the most recently approved family of antiretroviral agents for the treat... more Integrase inhibitors are the most recently approved family of antiretroviral agents for the treatment of HIV infection. As with other antiretroviral agents, under pharmacological pressure, the virus selects resistance mutations if viral suppression is incomplete. Mutations are selected in the integrase gene, specifically in positions proximal to the catalytic center. Because clinical experience with these drugs is scarce, information on resistance is limited. Virologic failure with raltegravir is associated with selection of primary mutations such as N155H (40%) and distinct changes in position Q148 (28%). Less frequently, Y143R (6.6%) and E92Q are selected. The most frequently observed mutations in failure with elvitegravir are E92Q, E138K, Q148R/K/H and N155H, and less frequently S147G and T66A/I/K. The most common resistance pattern seems to be E138K + E147G + Q148R. There is a high grade of cross resistance between raltegravir and elvitegravir, making sequencing between these tw...
Therapeutics and Clinical Risk Management, 2008
Atazanavir (ATV) is one of the latest protease inhibitors (PI) approved for the treatment of HIV ... more Atazanavir (ATV) is one of the latest protease inhibitors (PI) approved for the treatment of HIV infection. The drug has a relatively long-life (∼7 h) and large inhibitory quotient which allows once daily administration. It is generally well tolerated and the main side effect is hyperbilirubinemia, since ATV inhibits the hepatic uridin-glucoronyl-transferase. A signature mutation at the protease gene, I50L, may confer loss of susceptibility to the drug. Interestingly, it produces hypersusceptibility to all other PIs. When ATV is pharmacokinetically boosted with ritonavir (r) 100 mg/day, a greater genetic barrier for resistance is achieved, and generally more than 3 major PI resistance associated mutations are needed to result in ATV resistance. In drugnaïve subjects, regimens based on ATV/r have shown non-inferiority compared to lopinavir (LPV)/r (CASTLE study) or fosamprenavir/r (ALERT trial), generally with improved tolerance (less diarrhea and dyslipidemia). Given its good tolerance and convenience, ATV has been proven to be successful as a simplifi cation strategy in switch studies (ie, SWAN and SLOAT) conducted in patients with complete virological suppression under other PI-based regimens. Finally, ATV/r-based combinations have shown to be equivalent in terms of viral response to other PI/r-containing regimens, including LPV/r, in rescue interventions in patients failing other PI regimens (ie, studies AI424-045 and NADIS).
Journal of the International AIDS Society, 2010
Journal of the International AIDS Society, 2008
is the first marketed HIV integrase inhibitor. It has shown considerable potency and safety in cl... more is the first marketed HIV integrase inhibitor. It has shown considerable potency and safety in clinical trials conducted in antiretroviral (ARV)-experienced HIV+ patients. This study aims to assess the performance of RAL in a routine clinical practice, as part of therapeutic strategies besides salvage therapy.
Journal of Medical Virology, 2009
Assessment of HIV tropism using bioinformatic tools based on V3 sequences correlates poorly with ... more Assessment of HIV tropism using bioinformatic tools based on V3 sequences correlates poorly with results provided by phenotypic tropism assays, particularly for recognizing X4 viruses. This may represent an obstacle for the use of CCR5 antagonists. An algorithm combining several bioinformatic tools might improve the correlation with phenotypic tropism results. A total of 200 V3 sequences from HIV-1 subtype B, available in several databases with known phenotypic tropism results, were used to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of seven different bioinformatic tools (PSSM, SVM, C4.5 decision tree generator and C4.5, PART, Charge Rule, and Geno2pheno). The best predictive bioinformatic tools were identified, and a model combining several of these was built. Using the 200 reference sequences, SVM and geno2-pheno showed the highest sensitivity for detecting X4 viruses (98.8% and 93.7%, respectively); however, their specificity was relatively low (62.5% and 86.6%, respectively). For R5 viruses, PSSM and C4.5 gave the same results and outperformed other bioinformatic tools (95.7% sensitivity, 82% specificity). When results from three out of these four tools were concordant, the sensitivity and specificity, taking as reference the results from phenotypic tropism assays, were over 90% in predicting either R5 or X4 viruses (AUC: 0.9701; 95% CI: 0.9358-0.9889). An algorithm combining four distinct bioinformatic tools (SVM, geno2pheno, PSSM and C4.5), improves the genotypic prediction of HIV tropism, and merits further evaluation, as it might prove useful as a screening strategy in clinical practice.
Journal of Clinical Virology, 2011
Background: Dried blood spots (DBS) could serve as an attractive, cost-effective alternative to p... more Background: Dried blood spots (DBS) could serve as an attractive, cost-effective alternative to plasma for HIV drug resistance testing. Objectives: To assess the utility and potential gain in genotypic information with sensitive testing of DBS compared to conventional bulk plasma genotyping, and examine the correlation of majority and minority-level resistance mutations in DBS with treatment history. Study design: Evaluate nucleic acids from the DBS of 33 antiretroviral-experienced subtype B-infected subjects for minority M41L, K65R, K70R, K103N, Y181C, M184V, and T215Y/F mutations by real-time PCR. Compare minority resistance mutations in DBS with bulk genotypes from the same DBS cards and available plasma specimens. Results: All but one (50/51, 98%) mutation from the original plasma bulk sequencing were still detectable in the DBS after three years of storage. The one mutation not identified in DBS was also no longer detectable by bulk sequencing. Furthermore, sensitive testing found 12 additional drug resistance mutations at minority levels in the DBS of 11 (33%) patients. Six minority mutations were in the RNA compartment and six were detected only in the DNA compartment. Resistance was detected in the DBS RNA compartment only in cases where the associated drug was in use within one year of sample collection. Conclusions: Our ability to identify majority and additional minority-level resistance mutations demonstrated that DBS, if stored properly, is a high-integrity specimen type for conventional and sensitive drug resistance testing. Our data further support the global utility of DBS for drug resistance surveillance and clinical monitoring.
Journal of Clinical Virology, 2009
Background: Raltegravir has been shown to be active against wildtype HIV-2 with a phenotypic susc... more Background: Raltegravir has been shown to be active against wildtype HIV-2 with a phenotypic susceptibility similar to HIV-1. Due to the recent introduction of these novel inhibitors, information on the selection of resistance mutations and its phenotypic effect in this population is scarce. Objectives: To explore in vitro the effect of raltegravir resistance in one individual with HIV-2 infection who failed raltegravir-HAART. Methods: A 20-year-old man with HIV-2 infection received a raltegravir-based HAART regimen. Drug resistance mutations were examined in the integrase gene by sequence analysis. Phenotypic analyses were performed in two HIV-2 isolates from the patient (wildtype isolate: SP-2p2-175 and mutant isolate: SP-2p2-189) and a laboratory reference strain (HIV-2 ROD). Susceptibility to raltegravir was assessed in a PBMC culture assay. Furthermore, a replicative capacity assay was performed. Results: After introduction of raltegravir, patient's HIV-2 viremia dropped 1 log but did not reach undetectability. Genotypic analysis at month 8 with raltegravir, revealed the development of N155H resistant mutation along with other changes in the HIV-2 integrase: V72I, I84V, A153G, N160K and S163S/G. These changes resulted in a 37-fold increase in phenotypic resistance to raltegravir. Wildtype HIV-2 integrase (SP-2p2-175) had an IC 50 of 21.5 nM and HIV-2 mutant virus (SP-2p2-189) showed an IC 50 of 789 nM. SP-2p2-189 virus presented also lower replicative capacity in the absence of raltegravir than wildtype. Conclusion: A continued low HIV-2 viral load seems to be enough to select the N155H mutation, which despite significantly impairing viral replication, shows a level of resistance sufficient to give a selective advantage to the virus that maintains this pathway of resistance to raltegravir overtime.
Journal of Clinical Microbiology, 2009
The plasma human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) RNA load is used in the clinical routine for the mo... more The plasma human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) RNA load is used in the clinical routine for the monitoring of HIV infection and the patient's response to antiretroviral therapy. Other body fluids or dried blood spots (DBS) can be used, however, to assess the level of viremia. The use of DBS may be especially helpful for the monitoring of HIV-infected patients in resource-poor settings, where access to adequate laboratory facilities is often difficult. However, the correlation between the HIV RNA levels in plasma and those in DBSs has not been well established. Paired plasma and DBS samples obtained from HIV type 1 (HIV-1)-infected patients were tested for HIV RNA copy numbers by using two different commercial assays, the Nuclisens EasyQ HIV-1 (version 1.1) test (the Nuclisens test; Biomerieux) and the m2000rt RealTime HIV test (the m2000rt test; Abbott). Nucleic acid extraction was performed manually by using either the Nuclisens isolation kit (which uses the Boom methodology) or the m2000rt sample preparation kit (an iron particle-based method). A total of 103 paired plasma and DBS samples were tested. Viral load results were obtained for 97 (94.2%) samples with the Nuclisens isolation kit and 81 (78.6%) samples with the m2000rt kit. The overall correlation between the RNA loads in plasma and DBS was good, although better results were obtained by the Nuclisens test (R 2 ؍ 0.87, P < 0.001) than by the m2000rt test (R 2 ؍ 0.70, P < 0.001). While the specificities were excellent and similar for both the Nuclisens and the m2000rt tests (97.1% and 100%, respectively), the sensitivity was greater by the Nuclisens test than by the m2000rt test (75.8% and 56.6%, respectively). Overall, the viral loads in DBS tended to be lower than those in plasma, with mean differences of 0.3 log unit (standard deviation, 0.5 log unit) and 0.76 log unit (standard deviation, 0.8 log unit) for the Nuclisens and the m2000rt tests, respectively. The levels of agreement between the measurements in plasma and DBS were assessed by using the Bland-Altman plot for each assay. The Nuclisens test gave results within its defined limits (؊0.65 to 1.26) for 95.9% of the samples, while the m2000rt test gave results within its limits (؊0.83 to 2.33) for 100% of the samples. In summary, the HIV-1 load can accurately be quantified by testing DBS by either the Nuclisens or the m2000rt test, although the Nuclisens test may outperform the m2000rt test when nucleic acids are extracted manually.
Journal of Clinical Microbiology, 2008
Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) tropism can be assessed using phenotypic assays, but ... more Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) tropism can be assessed using phenotypic assays, but this is quite laborious, expensive, and time-consuming and can be made only in sophisticated laboratories. More accessible albeit reliable tools for testing of HIV-1 tropism are needed in view of the prompt introduction of CCR5 antagonists in clinical practice. Bioinformatics tools based on V3 sequences might help to predict HIV-1 tropism; however, most of these methods have been designed by taking only genetic information derived from HIV-1 subtype B into consideration. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performances of several genotypic tools to predict HIV-1 tropism in non-B subtypes, as data on this issue are scarce. Plasma samples were tested using a new phenotypic tropism assay (Phenoscript-tropism; Eurofins), and results were compared with estimates of coreceptor usage using eight different genotypic predictor softwares (Support Vector Machine [SVM], C4.5, C4.5 with positions 8 to 12 only, PART, Charge Rule, geno2pheno coreceptor, Position-Specific Scoring Matrix X4R5 [PSSM X4R5 ], and PSSM sinsi ). A total of 150 samples were tested, with 115 belonging to patients infected with non-B subtypes and 35 drawn from subtype B-infected patients, which were taken as controls. When non-B subtypes were tested, the concordances between the results obtained using the phenotypic assay and distinct genotypic tools were as follows: 78.8% for SVM, 77.5% for C4.5, 82.5% for C4.5 with positions 8 to 12 only, 82.5% for PART, 82.5% for Charge Rule, 82.5% for PSSM X4R5 , 83.8% for PSSM sinsi , and 71.3% for geno2pheno. When clade B viruses were tested, the best concordances were seen for PSSM X4R5 (91.4%), PSSM sinsi (88.6%), and geno2pheno (88.6%). The sensitivity for detecting X4 variants was lower for non-B than for B viruses, especially in the case of PSSM sinsi (38.4% versus 100%, respectively), SVM wetcat (46% versus 100%, respectively), and PART (30% versus 90%, respectively). In summary, while inferences of HIV-1 coreceptor usage using genotypic tools seem to be reliable for clade B viruses, their performances are poor for non-B subtypes, in which they particularly fail to detect X4 variants.
Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, 2007
Genetic sequence analyses of both HIV protease and reverse transcriptase were performed and drug ... more Genetic sequence analyses of both HIV protease and reverse transcriptase were performed and drug resistance mutations were interpreted following the latest International AIDS Society-USA panel list (www.iasusa.org, last update in September 2006). 5 NNRTI-...
Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, 2011
Objectives: To assess whether the commercial ViroSeq HIV-1 Genotyping System (Abbott Molecular, D... more Objectives: To assess whether the commercial ViroSeq HIV-1 Genotyping System (Abbott Molecular, Des Plains, IL, USA) can be used in conjunction with dried blood spots (DBS) for clinical monitoring of drug resistance in patients who fail antiretroviral treatment (ART) in rural Tanzania.
Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, 2010
Raltegravir (Isentress) is the first approved HIV integrase inhibitor. Agents in this class targe... more Raltegravir (Isentress) is the first approved HIV integrase inhibitor. Agents in this class target a different viral enzyme compared with agents inhibiting reverse transcriptase and protease. A wide number of patients are currently susceptible to integrase inhibitors, including heavily antiretroviral-experienced patients harbouring drug-resistant viruses. The good tolerability and convenience of raltegravir have recently begun to be appreciated, leading to the consideration of other indications for the drug. Data recently released using the drug as first-line therapy or in switch strategies are very promising and the role of raltegravir in intensification therapy is currently under investigation. Altogether, the current information supports a broad use of raltegravir beyond its initial approval for antiretroviral-experienced HIV-infected patients.
Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, 2008
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Papers by Carolina Garrido