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HIV research findings made possible by new test

Date:
July 28, 2014
Source:
University of Colorado Denver
Summary:
An influential new test, discovered and developed in an American university helps monitor the effectiveness of the HIV prevention drug called Truvada, which is taken once daily to prevent HIV infection. The test measures the amount of tenofovir-diphosphate in red blood cells, using a dried blood spot. Because of a long half-life, high amounts of the metabolite in the dried blood spot correspond with consistent dosing of Truvada and low amounts correspond with inconsistent dosing.
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An influential new test, discovered and developed in the Colorado Antiviral Pharmacology Laboratory at the CU School of Pharmacy, helps monitor the effectiveness of the HIV prevention drug called Truvada (a combination of tenofovir/emtricitabine), which is taken once daily to prevent HIV infection.

A study presented during the AIDS 2014 Conference and published in Lancet Infectious Diseases on the efficacy and safety of prophylactic use of Truvada to protect against HIV infection relied on a test developed at the school. The test measures the amount of tenofovir-diphosphate (a metabolite of tenofovir) in red blood cells, using a dried blood spot. Because of a long half-life, high amounts of the metabolite in the dried blood spot correspond with consistent dosing of Truvada and low amounts correspond with inconsistent dosing. The new test was used in the iPrEx open label extension study (iPrEx OLE) published in Lancet Infectious Diseases to estimate patterns of tablet use during the study. The new test showed a continuous gradient of increasing efficacy (fewer HIV infections) with increasing drug concentrations. Dr. Peter Anderson, whose laboratory developed the test, said, "Participants in the study who had tablet use consistent with 4 or more tablets per week, as determined by the new test, had no HIV infections (estimated 100% efficacy)."

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) recently issued guidelines recommending the use of antiretroviral medicines as an additional method of preventing HIV infection. "Findings from iPrEX OLE are particularly important in relation to emerging guidelines recommending widespread use of PrEP," said Protocol Chair Robert Grant, MD, PGH of the Gladstone Institutes, the University of California at San Francisco and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.


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Materials provided by University of Colorado Denver. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Cite This Page:

University of Colorado Denver. "HIV research findings made possible by new test." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 28 July 2014. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/07/140728141558.htm>.
University of Colorado Denver. (2014, July 28). HIV research findings made possible by new test. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 18, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/07/140728141558.htm
University of Colorado Denver. "HIV research findings made possible by new test." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/07/140728141558.htm (accessed March 18, 2024).

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