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Biomedical subjects

M Boffito

Publications and source records attributed to M Boffito.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Management of advanced HIV disease: resistance, antiretroviral brain penetration and malignancies.

Data from Italy, Spain and the USA all highlight the worrying fact that presentation with advanced HIV disease - defined as a cluster of differentiation 4 (CD4) count <50 cells/mm(3) or the presence of an acquired immunodeficiency syndrome-defining illness - is increasingly common. A review from 2003 showed that 31% of patients in the UK and Ireland presented late (<200 CD4 cells/mm(3)). Early diagnosis is vital to ensure that patients benefit from antiretroviral therapy, and when patients present late, they do not obtain the benefits of early treatment. The risk of death is lower when antiretroviral therapy is initiated at CD4 counts of 201-350 cells/mm(3) than at lower CD4 cell counts. In addition, the risk of unintentional infection of others is increased, which is particularly troubling in light of evidence that transmission of resistance can occur even in the absence of antiretroviral therapy. The management of patients with advanced disease and no complications is complex, but issues of transmitted resistance and comorbid conditions further confuse management decisions in the treatment of patients with higher CD4 counts. This article reviews recent evidence on transmitted resistance, the pharmacokinetics of antiretroviral drugs in patients with central nervous system disease and the management issues in patients with comorbid malignancies to offer practical advice on therapeutic options for treatment-naïve patients who present with advanced HIV disease.

AIDS Dementia Complex↗
PubMed2005

Nevirapine plasma exposure affects both durability of viral suppression and selection of nevirapine primary resistance mutations in a clinical setting.

The relationship between nevirapine plasma concentrations and the durability of both viral suppression (VS) and selection of nevirapine primary resistance mutations (PRMs) was evaluated. A nevirapine trough concentration (Ctrough) of >4,300 ng/ml was found to predict longer VS. Patients with nevirapine Ctrough s ranging from 3,100 to 4,300 ng/ml had higher probabilities of developing PRMs than those with nevirapine Ctrough s below and above this concentration interval.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Seroprevalence study of tick borne encephalitis in Turin province.

BACKGROUND: Tick borne encephalitis (TBE) virus is diffused in some European countries and it is transmitted by tick bites. In Italy Isodex ricinus represents the main vector of the infection, that rarely produces the neurologic manifestations, characterising the secondary phase of the same. METHODS: In Italy TBE has been little studied and this only in the Middle and Northern regions of the country. Seroepidemiological researches were done prevalently on subjects at high risk of tick bite, such as hunters or forest guards and especially in Trentino and Tuscany. No precise information about TBE virus diffusion was disposable in the Piedmont region and particularly in the Susa valley where, before our investigation failed the data about it. RESULTS: We found that usual hunters and wild boar breeders seem to be particularly exposed to the risk of TBE virus infection, but none neurologic involvement was detected in the anamnesis of the significantly seropositive subjects and also of the borderline ones, that we have studied, despite the limited number of these subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Nevertheless we hope for a following extension of our case report, also in consideration that rare cases of encephalitis of unknown etiology, are signalled in Piedmont.

Adult↗