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Widespread availability of antiretroviral therapies (ART) for HIV-1 have generated considerable interest in understanding the pharmacogenomics of ART. In some individuals, ART has been associated with excessive weight gain, which disproportionately affects women of African ancestry. The underlying biology of ART-associated weight gain is poorly understood, but some genetic markers which modify weight gain risk have been suggested, with more genetic factors likely remaining undiscovered. To overcome limitations in available sample sizes for genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in people with HIV, we explored whether a multi-ancestry polygenic risk score (PRS) derived from large, publicly available non-HIV GWAS for body mass index (BMI) can achieve high cross-ancestry performance for predicting baseline BMI in diverse, prospective ART clinical trials datasets, and whether that PRS_BMI is also associated with change in BMI over 48 weeks on ART. We show that PRS_BMI explained ∼5-7% of variability in baseline (pre-ART) BMI, with high performance in both European and African genetic ancestry groups, but that PRS_BMI was not associated with change in BMI on ART. This study argues against a shared genetic predisposition for baseline (pre-ART) BMI and ART-associated weight gain.

Chinese medicine has been used in China as an adjuvant therapy in the treatment of AIDS. Unlike modern therapeutic treatment which applies a reductional approach, using directly targeting drugs and their combination, Chinese medicine applies a holistic direction. The holistic approach is aimed at the internal balance of vital forces, which achieves good harmony when the individual is healthy. AIDS patients suffer from a severe loss of ability to maintain the vital forces at an equilibrium. Immuno-enhancement should be the key. Indeed many herbs and herbal formulae are commonly known to be rich in immuno-modulating effects. Many herbs have been screened for immuno-modulating activities in laboratories both within and beyond China. China has been applying an integrated approach to the treatment of AIDS. Immuno-enhancement herbs are used together with potent anti-viral drugs; 27%–67% improvements on the immunological status have been obtained.

Despite the advances in the modern treatment of AIDS which include new drugs and different forms of combined therapy on “cocktails”, the treatment of the disease is far from satisfactory. Drug toxicities and the readiness to develop drug resistance are major obstacles to the control of this devastating disease. It would be a real blessing if traditional/alternative medicine could be used to fight AIDS.

Although no conclusion could yet be drawn on the effectiveness of Chinese herbs against AIDS, a number of interesting clinical observations and laboratory studies have demonstrated the possibility of efficacy. Studies were centered around the immuno-modulating effects of some herbs and herbal formulae. Explorations are being done on the anti-viral effects of some other herbs and herbal formulae.

It is the author's opinion that future studies should follow international diagnostic standards and criteria of evaluation.

A class of four linear and nonlinear differential equations models is given to describe the detection of HIV-positive individuals in Cuba through random screening and contact tracing. The basic reproduction number is obtained for each of the four models. Cuban HIV data from 1986 to 2002 are used to fit the models for the purpose of comparison. We also use the models to gauge the difference in detection time through random screening and contact tracing. Remarks on the implications for intervention measures and treatment of people living with HIV in Cuba are also given.

This chapter first summarizes results of recent vaccine trials. Then we present structures and results of selected mathematical models for prophylactic (non-live-attenuated and live-attenuated) and therapeutic HIV/AIDS vaccines. Finally, important modeling considerations and discussions are provided. The purpose of this chapter is not to emphasize the usefulness of mathematical modeling, but to provide modelers a good collection of various types of deterministic models and discussions concerning differences among the models.

Faced with an ongoing HIV virus pandemic, a deeper understanding of the interactions between this virus and an adaptive immune system is as essential to develop efficient counteractive measures. This review introduces models that aim to understand the course of disease as an emergent from the complex network of interactions of virus particles and immune cells at the microscopic scale, though not focusing on the details of the individual interactions. This allows the derivation of constraints on the global dynamics within cellular automata models and an approach based on stochastic processes. Special attention is devoted to a better understanding of the origin of the incubation period distribution. Moreover, vaccination strategies and recent developments in drug design based on fusion inhibition are discussed in the light of the presented theoretical models.

Despite the tremendous progress that has been made in elucidating the molecular biology, virology, and immunology of HIV-1 infection, some of the most basic questions about how this virus causes disease remain unanswered. In this review, I outline seven problems relating to HIV-1 infection that might be addressed by computational biologists. Solutions to these problems would contribute significantly to our understanding of HIV-1 pathogenesis and improved treatments for HIV-1 infections.