title: Treatment of W. bancrofti (Wb) in HIV/Wb coinfections in South India.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The disease course of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is often altered by existing or newly acquired coincident infections.
  
  
  RESULTS
  To assess the influence of pre-existing Wuchereria bancrofti infection on HIV progression, we performed a case-controlled treatment study of HIV positive individuals with (FIL+) or without (FIL-) W. bancrofti infection. Twenty-eight HIV+/FIL+ and 51 matched HIV+/FIL- subjects were treated with a single dose of diethylcarbamazine and albendazole (DEC/Alb) and followed for a year at regular intervals. Sixteen of the HIV+/FIL+ subjects (54%) and 28 of the HIV+/FIL- controls (57%) were on antiretroviral therapy (ART) during the study. Following treatment, no differences were noted in clinical outcomes between the 2 groups. There also was no significant difference between the groups in the HIV viral load at 12 months as a percentage of baseline viral load (HIV+/FIL+ group had on average 0.97 times the response of the HIV+/FIL- group, 95% CI 0.88, 1.07) between the groups. Furthermore, there were no significant differences found in either the change in viral load at 1, 3, or 6 months or in the change in CD4 count at 3, 6, or 12 months between the 2 groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We were unable to find a significant effect of W. bancrofti infection or its treatment on HIV clinical course or surrogate markers of HIV disease progression though we recognized that our study was limited by the smaller than predicted sample size and by the use of ART in half of the patients. Treatment of W. bancrofti coinfection in HIV positive subjects (as is usual in mass drug administration campaigns) did not represent an increased risk to the subjects, and should therefore be considered for PLWHA living in W. bancrofti endemic areas.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00344279.
authors: Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America; Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America.
authors: Kawsar R
authors: KR
authors: Talaat
authors: Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America.
authors: Subash
authors: S
authors: Babu
authors: National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis (formerly Tuberculosis Research Centre), Indian Council of Medical Research, Chennai, India.
authors: Pradeep
authors: P
authors: Menon
authors: YRG CARE, Chennai, India.
authors: N
authors: N
authors: Kumarasamy
authors: YRG CARE, Chennai, India.
authors: Jabin
authors: J
authors: Sharma
authors: YRG CARE, Chennai, India.
authors: Jeeva
authors: J
authors: Arumugam
authors: National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis (formerly Tuberculosis Research Centre), Indian Council of Medical Research, Chennai, India.
authors: Kalaivani
authors: K
authors: Dhakshinamurthy
authors: National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis (formerly Tuberculosis Research Centre), Indian Council of Medical Research, Chennai, India.
authors: Ramalingam
authors: R
authors: Srinivasan
authors: YRG CARE, Chennai, India.
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Poongulali
authors: Division of Clinical Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America.
authors: Wenjuan
authors: W
authors: Gu
authors: Division of Clinical Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America.
authors: Michael P
authors: MP
authors: Fay
authors: National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis (formerly Tuberculosis Research Centre), Indian Council of Medical Research, Chennai, India.
authors: Soumya
authors: S
authors: Swaminathan
authors: Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America.
authors: Thomas B
authors: TB
authors: Nutman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015766:Albendazole / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000818:Animals; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D060085:Coinfection / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology; D004049:Diethylcarbamazine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D005368:Filariasis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D005369:Filaricides / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D019562:Viral Load; D014958:Wuchereria bancrofti / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D005369:Filaricides; D015766:Albendazole; D004049:Diethylcarbamazine