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High-dose intravitreal ganciclovir and foscarnet for cytomegalovirus retinitis.

PURPOSE: To describe the chronic use of high doses of intravitreal ganciclovir, in combination with foscarnet, for the treatment of cytomegalovirus retinitis. METHODS: A 31-year-old man with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and unilateral active cytomegalovirus retinitis was treated with escalating intravitreal injections of ganciclovir (up to 3.0 mg twice a week) in combination with foscarnet (up to 2.4 mg twice a week) over the course of approximately 1 year. RESULTS: Complete regression of the retinitis was obtained with high doses of intravitreal ganciclovir and foscarnet. Visual acuity in the affected eye remained 20/20 throughout the course of therapy. No ganciclovir retinal toxicity was identified. CONCLUSION: High doses of intravitreal ganciclovir in combination with foscarnet can be well tolerated and may be required to successfully control cytomegalovirus retinitis in some patients.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗

Dose-related difference in progression rates of cytomegalovirus retinopathy during foscarnet maintenance therapy. AIDS Clinical Trials Group Protocol 915 Team.

PURPOSE: A previous dose-ranging study of foscarnet maintenance therapy for cytomegalovirus retinopathy showed a positive relationship between dose and survival but could not confirm a relationship between dose and time to first progression. This retrospective analysis of data from that study was undertaken to determine whether there was a relationship between dose and progression rates, which reflects the amount of retina destroyed when progression occurs. METHODS: Patients were randomly given one of two foscarnet maintenance therapy doses (90 mg/kg of body weight/day [FOS-90 group] or 120 mg/kg of body weight/day [FOS-120 group] after induction therapy. Using baseline and follow-up photographs and pre-established definitions and methodology in a masked analysis, posterior progression rates and foveal proximity rates for individual lesions, selected by prospectively defined criteria, were calculated in each patient. Rates were compared between groups. RESULTS: The following median rates were greater for the FOS-90 group (N = 8) than for the FOS-120 group (N = 10): greatest maximum rate at which lesions enlarged in a posterior direction (43.5 vs 12.5 microns/day; P = .002); posterior progression rate for lesions closest to the fovea (42.8 vs 5.5 microns/day; P = .010); and maximum foveal proximity rate for either eye (32.3 vs 3.4 microns/day; P = .031). CONCLUSION: Patients receiving higher doses of foscarnet have slower rates of progression and therefore less retinal tissue damage during maintenance therapy. A foscarnet maintenance therapy dose of 120 mg/kg of body weight/day instead of 90 mg/kg of body weight/day may help to preserve vision in patients with cytomegalovirus retinopathy.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗

Treatment of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)-related pneumonitis with foscarnet: a double-blind placebo controlled study.

A double-blind placebo controlled trial of foscarnet was conducted in 32 Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) antibody positive male homosexuals with a presumed AIDS pneumonia. The study was designed to evaluate the importance of treating cytomegalovirus (CMV) as a possible lung pathogen of these patients and as a toxicity study of foscarnet. Trial subjects were randomised to receive either foscarnet or placebo as a continuous intravenous infusion for 2 weeks along with conventional therapy against Pneumocystis carinii (PC) pneumonia. Bronchoscopy or post-mortem showed PC to be present in 24 patients and the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid had early antigen foci of CMV in nine, five of these being double infections. The incidence of CMV infection in this group of patients was not sufficiently high to prove or disprove that treatment of CMV speeds recovery or improves prognosis in AIDS pneumonias. Overall however foscarnet was well tolerated with a slight increase in adverse reactions in the treated groups. This agent is therefore a relatively non-toxic drug to use in the treatment of established CMV disease.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

[In vitro susceptibility study of herpes simplex virus to acyclovir and foscarnet. Are routine susceptibility studies necessary?].

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence of resistance of herpes simplex virus to acyclovir and foscarnet. PATIENTS AND METHOD: An in vitro susceptibility study of HSV strains isolated from HIV-infected and non-infected (control group) patients was conducted by means of qualitative screening. When the screening results were positive, the method for reducing cytopathic effect was utilized for calculating ID50. An ID50 < 1 microgram/ml indicated susceptibility to acyclovir, ID50 1-2 microgram/ml was intermediate susceptibility to acyclovir and a value of ID50 >/= 2 microgram/ml denoted resistance. Resistance to foscarnet was considered at ID50 >/= 100 microgram/ml. RESULTS: The study involved investigating 84 HSV strains, 49 HIV-infected patients, and 19 control patients. In the control group, no strains resistant to acyclovir were present and infection recurred in only one patient. In patients with HIV infection, one acyclovir resistant strain was detected and one moderately resistant to acyclovir, with good response to acyclovir treatment. In this group, 24.4% of patients presented recurrent infection. No resistance to foscarnet was detected. CONCLUSION: Percentage of HSV strains resistant to acyclovir is very low and resistance to foscarnet was not detected. These data suggest that routine in vitro susceptibility testing of antiviral drugs against HSV does not seem to be necessary.

Acyclovir↗

Foscarnet prophylaxis of cytomegalovirus infections in patients undergoing allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT): a dose-finding study.

This is a dose-finding study using foscarnet for CMV prophylaxis after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) in 20 high risk patients (unrelated donors, or T cell depleted, and/or advanced disease). Foscarnet was started on day +1 after BMT and continued until day +100. We explored four different dose levels, patients being entered at the lowest dose level until one patient experiences CMV-reactivation, identified as two consecutive positive CMV antigenemias (CMVAg-emia). The four dose levels expressed as mg/kg/day between days 1 and 30 (induction) and between days 31 and 100 (maintenance) were respectively: dose level I = 60/30 (n = 5); dose level II = 120/60 (n = 4); dose level III = 120/90 (n = 5) and dose level IV = 120/120 (n = 6). All patients showed engraftment: PMN > or =0.5 x 109/l at a median interval of 16, 21, 17, 15 days after BMT, and Plt > or =30x10(9)/l on days 19, 16, 17, 17 respectively. CMVAg-emia was seen in 10 patients at a median interval of 53 days post-BMT (range 33-89) with a median of 10 CMV antigen+ cells (range 1-16). There was a dose effect of foscarnet on CMVAg-emia: respectively 4/5 patients (80%), 2/4 (50%), 3/5 (60%) and 1/6 (18%) at dose levels I, II, III, IV (P = 0.1). CMV disease was seen in 3/9 (33%) at dose levels I, II and 0/11 at dose levels III, IV (P = 0. 07). The median number of CMV antigen-positive cells at diagnosis of CMV infection was different: 13 in dose levels I-II and two in dose levels III-IV (P = 0.01). Increased creatininine was seen in 15 patients with a mean of 1.8 mg% (range 1.5-5.7) and was the cause of discontinuation in nine patients (45%). Renal toxicity was reversible in all nine patients. Overall actuarial TRM at 2 years was 31%: 47% for patients at dose levels I-II and 19% for patients at dose levels III-IV. In conclusion, foscarnet exhibits a dose-dependent prophylactic effect on CMVAg-emia, CMV disease and transplant-related mortality with acceptable and reversible renal toxicity.

Adult↗

Foscarnet therapy for ganciclovir-resistant cytomegalovirus retinitis after stem cell transplantation: effective monitoring of CMV infection by quantitative analysis of CMV mRNA.

We report three pediatric patients with ganciclovir-resistant cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis who were successfully treated with foscarnet. The patients were recipients of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (SCT) from HLA-mismatched donors. Because these patients had developed or experienced progressive CMV retinitis during ganciclovir therapy, they received foscarnet therapy at 60 mg/kg every 8 h. Their retinitis resolved promptly after initiating foscarnet therapy, suggesting foscarnet's effectiveness in treating ganciclovir-resistant CMV infection. The amount of CMV mRNA was quantitatively measured using an NASBA technique, which amplified the beta2.7 transcripts specific for CMV replication. This technique was useful for monitoring disease activity in a more rapid and sensitive manner than the PCR assay for CMV DNA.

Adolescent↗

Mutations conferring foscarnet resistance in a cohort of patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and cytomegalovirus retinitis.

The clinical significance of cytomegalovirus (CMV) foscarnet resistance was studied in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and CMV retinitis. Sequencing of the CMV pol gene was performed in 30 isolates. Phenotypic resistance was characterized by the DNA hybridization assay (DHA) in 30 isolates and by plaque-reduction assay (PRA) in 18 isolates. Nine isolates had foscarnet resistance mutations, including V787L and E756Q that were confirmed by marker transfer experiments. Seven of 9 isolates with a 50% inhibitory concentration (IC(50)) >600 microM by DHA had genotypic resistance, compared with 2 of 21 with an IC(50) < or =600 microM (P=.0005). By PRA, 5 isolates had an IC(50) >400 microM and genotypic resistance, whereas only 1 of 13 susceptible isolates had genotypic resistance (P=.0007). Sixteen of 18 isolates had concordant PRA and DHA phenotypes. Among 44 patients treated with foscarnet, drug resistance increased the risk of retinitis progression (odds ratio, 14; P=.016). The incidence of foscarnet resistance after 6, 9, and 12 months of therapy was 13%, 24%, and 37%, respectively.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗

Effect of a 14-day course of foscarnet on cytomegalovirus (CMV) blood markers in a randomized study of human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients with persistent CMV viremia. Agence National de Recherche du SIDA 023 Study Group.

A randomized open-label phase 2 trial compared the virological and clinical effects on cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection of a 14-day course of intravenous foscarnet (100 mg/[kg x 12 h]) or no treatment in 42 HIV-infected patients with < 100 CD4 cells/mm3 and persistent asymptomatic CMV viremia. All CMV markers (blood culture, pp65 antigenemia, plasma and leukocyte DNA) either became negative or decreased significantly at day 14 in the foscarnet group. CMV blood culture results at day 14 were positive in 14% of those receiving foscarnet versus 60% of control patients (P = .004). However, after the end of treatment, all markers reappeared or the virus load rapidly increased. The probability of CMV disease at 6 months was 43% in both groups. Patients who had or who achieved a negative blood culture at any time had a reduced risk of CMV disease (RR = 2.64; 95% CI = 1.24-5.62; P = .02). This study suggests that sequential courses of intravenous foscarnet might not be a good strategy for preemptive therapy in this population and that in patients with a positive blood marker, treatment able to induce and maintain negative CMV blood cultures could constitute an effective intervention.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗

Ocular toxicity of iontophoretic foscarnet in rabbits.

Transscleral iontophoresis of foscarnet is a noninvasive drug delivery system for the local treatment of cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinopathy. We determined the retinotoxic effects of transscleral iontophoresis of foscarnet. Slit-lamp biomicroscopy revealed no toxic effects for any of the treated eyes. Indirect ophthalmoscopy showed retinal and choroidal burns 1-3 mm in diameter at the site of iontophoresis in both foscarnet-treated eyes and saline-treated control eyes. Light and electron microscopy revealed focal retinal, retinal pigment epithelial, and choroidal necrosis at the site of iontophoresis but no abnormalities elsewhere. Ganzfeld electroretinographic studies revealed no response differences between foscarnet-treated eyes vs. controls.

Animals↗

Determination of ocular toxicity in multiple applications of foscarnet iontophoresis.

This is the first study of multiple applications of drug iontophoresis in the eye. We repeated ocular foscarnet iontophoresis in 10 eyes of 10 rabbits every third day at the same paralimbal site for a total of seven applications over a period of 21 days to determine the efficacy and toxicity of multiple applications of ocular foscarnet iontophoresis. Mean vitreous human foscarnet concentration of 189 +/- 50.6 microM (SD) was achieved four hours after the seventh consecutive iontophoretic application over a period of twenty-one days. These levels were within the therapeutic range (25-800 microM) for the treatment of CMV retinitis and comparable to the intravitreal foscarnet concentrations achieved in eyes treated with a only a single application of ocular iontophoresis. Electroretinography (ERG) and Slit-lamp biomicroscopy responses revealed no evidence of ocular toxicity. Indirect ophthalmoscopy of the retinas and gross examinations of the calottes revealed a single, small burn in the retina and choroid corresponding to the application site of the iontophoresis probe similar to the lesion resulting from a single application of iontophoresis. Light and electron microscopy revealed local tissue injury and fibrosis at the iontophoresis site, but adjacent areas were unaffected.

Animals↗

Reducing chorioretinal viral counts with intravitreal foscarnet injections in a rabbit model of Herpes simplex virus type-1 retinitis.

The efficacy of intravitreal foscarnet injections was evaluated in a rabbit model of Herpes simplex virus type-1 (HSV-1) retinitis. In untreated infected animals, viral titration revealed that the optic chiasm, vitreous and chorioretina were positive for HSV-1. On the other hand, foscarnet treatment significantly decreased the viral count in the chorioretina when compared to the untreated group. Immunolocalization of HSV in untreated infected animals clearly showed infected cells in the outer and inner layers of the retina and also in the ciliary body of the eye. Clinical examination by indirect ophthalmoscopy indicated an absence of optic nerve congestion and a lower level of vitritis in foscarnet treated animals compared to the untreated group. It is concluded that intravitreal injections of foscarnet reduced the viral titer in the chorioretina in a rabbit model of HSV-1 retinitis. This route of administration might be valuable for the treatment of CMV retinitis in AIDS patients with sight threatening lesions or intolerance to intravenous anti-CMV drugs.

Administration, Topical↗

Successful treatment of progressive mucocutaneous infection due to acyclovir- and foscarnet-resistant herpes simplex virus with (S)-1-(3-hydroxy-2-phosphonylmethoxypropyl)cytosine (HPMPC).

The acyclic nucleoside phosphonate (S)-1-(3-hydroxy-2-phosphonylmethoxypropyl)cytosine (HPMPC) was used topically for the treatment of persistent mucocutaneous infections in two cases. One patient with AIDS suffered from a perineal lesion due to infection with herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) and did not respond to acyclovir and was intolerant of foscarnet. A bone marrow transplant recipient developed orofacial lesions due to infection with herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) that failed to respond to therapy with both acyclovir and foscarnet. After topical application of HPMPC, the HSV-2 lesions completely resolved. However, the lesions recurred 3 weeks later, and, upon subsequent treatment with HPMPC, regressed. On recurrence, the virus was found to be sensitive to acyclovir, which the patient was given. Again HSV-2, which was resistant to acyclovir, emerged; similar observations were made after another cycle of HPMPC therapy. The HSV-1 isolates were resistant to acyclovir and foscarnet. Following local HPMPC treatment, the lesions regressed, but after 1 week, a second course of topical HPMPC therapy had to be instituted for recurrent infection. The lesions again regressed, and as the recurrent virus was sensitive to acyclovir, the patient was successfully treated with the drug. The results of this study point to the potential usefulness of topical HPMPC in the treatment of immunocompromised patients with HSV-related mucocutaneous infections that are refractory to therapy with acyclovir and/or foscarnet.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗

Therapeutic effects of foscarnet sodium and acyclovir on cutaneous infections due to herpes simplex virus type 1 in guinea pigs.

The therapeutic effects of topically applied foscarnet sodium and acyclovir on cutaneous infections due to herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) were studied in guinea pigs. Foscarnet cream (3%) reduced both the cumulative vesicle score and the time for healing when HSV-1 strains C42 and 79 were tested. The application of foscarnet in cream form resulted in a dose-dependent reduction in skin virus titers and vesicle scores at concentrations ranging from 0.05% to 3%. Infections due to HSV-1 strain 79, but not those due to strain C42, were sensitive to treatment with 5% acyclovir in polyethylene glycol ointment. Topical application of 3% acyclovir in dimethyl sulfoxide on infections due to HSV-1 strain C42 resulted in a reduction in the skin virus titers, lesion scores, and the time for healing. Acyclovir, in both polyethylene glycol and dimethyl sulfoxide, was consistently less active than foscarnet cream in these animal experiments.

Acyclovir↗

Foscarnet therapy for ganciclovir-resistant cytomegalovirus retinitis in patients with AIDS.

Infections caused by cytomegalovirus (CMV) resistant in vitro to ganciclovir, defined as requiring greater than 6 mumols of ganciclovir for ED50 have developed in some AIDS patients with progressive CMV retinitis despite chronic ganciclovir therapy. Two such patients (CMV isolates ED50, 9.5-14.5 mumols) were treated with foscarnet, an antiviral pyrophosphate analogue to which both patients' isolates demonstrated in vitro susceptibility (ED50, less than or equal to 300 mumols). Each patient had documented retinitis progression, at 2- and 1- to 5-week intervals, respectively, despite high-dose intravenous ganciclovir therapy. Both patients responded to foscarnet therapy with cessation of viral shedding in urine and blood. After foscarnet therapy was started, retinitis stabilized in the two patients for 12 and 25 weeks, respectively, before progression recurred. Therefore, foscarnet may be effective in immunocompromised patients with rapidly progressive CMV retinitis whose CMV isolates have developed in vitro resistance to ganciclovir.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

Isolation of foscarnet-resistant human cytomegalovirus patterns of resistance and sensitivity to other antiviral drugs.

Investigations of mutants of human cytomegalovirus (CMV) that are resistant to foscarnet could shed light on mechanisms of selective drug action and features of drug resistance that may be clinically important. Preexisting foscarnet-resistant mutants could not be detected in a stock of wild-type strain AD169 at frequencies greater than 0.0025%. However, foscarnet-resistant mutants could be isolated by passage in increasing drug concentrations. Two independent mutants were shown by plaque reduction and dot-blot hybridization assays to be resistant to phosphonoacetic acid and acyclovir, sensitive to ganciclovir, vidarabine, 2'fluoro-5-iodoarabinosylcytosine, and (S)-1-(3-hydroxy-2- phosphonylmethoxypropyl)cytosine; and hypersensitive to aphidicolin and (S)-1-(3-hydroxy-2-phosphonylmethoxypropyl)adenine. These results have implications for the mutation frequency of CMV, for the possibility that clinically important foscarnet- and acyclovir-resistant CMV infections could emerge, for possible therapies of drug-resistant virus infections, and for the role of viral DNA polymerase in mechanisms of selective action of anti-CMV drugs.

Antiviral Agents↗

Successful foscarnet therapy for cytomegalovirus retinitis in an AIDS patient undergoing hemodialysis: rationale for empiric dosing and plasma level monitoring.

Foscarnet is an investigational antiviral agent that has been used effectively in the treatment of cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis in AIDS patients. However, it has not been readily available to AIDS patients with renal insufficiency because its major side effect is nephrotoxicity. In this report, the efficacy, safety, and dosing requirements of foscarnet in a hemodialysis-dependent patient with CMV retinitis are presented. Foscarnet was administered for 14 weeks, at an initial dosage of 60 mg/kg after each dialysis session. Plasma concentrations were monitored weekly, and the dosage was adjusted to maintain peak plasma levels in the range of 500-800 microM. Although some laboratory abnormalities occurred (a preexisting anemia continued, serum calcium and phosphorus decreased, and ionized calcium increased), they did not limit therapy. Foscarnet is a potentially useful alternative treatment for CMV retinitis in hemodialysis-dependent AIDS patients.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

Coresistance to zidovudine and foscarnet is associated with multiple mutations in the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 reverse transcriptase.

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) isolates obtained from a patient with AIDS were assessed for coresistance to foscarnet and zidovudine. An HIV-1 strain (AP20) coresistant to foscarnet and zidovudine was isolated after 20 months of continuous combination therapy. The reverse transcriptase (RT) gene of AP20 had 41 substitutions which were different from the HXB2-D sequence and 9 that were different from the sequence of its foscarnet-sensitive, zidovudine-resistant progenitor virus (AP6). Six of these mutations were nonpolymorphic (T39A, V108I, K166R, K219R, K223Q, and L228R). Both strains had the conventional mutations mediating zidovudine resistance. In vivo selection may result in HIV-1 strains that are coresistant to foscarnet and zidovudine, but coresistance appears to require a complex evolutionary path and multiple RT mutations.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Pharmacokinetics and absolute bioavailability of oral foscarnet in human immunodeficiency virus-seropositive patients.

The pharmacokinetics, absolute bioavailability, accumulation, and tolerability over 8 days of an oral formulation of foscarnet (90 mg/kg of body weight once daily [QD] [n = 6], 90 mg/kg twice daily [BID] [n = 6], and 180 mg/kg QD [n = 31) were investigated in 15 asymptomatic, human immunodeficiency virus-seropositive male patients free of active cytomegalovirus infection and with normal upper gastrointestinal function. Peak plasma drug concentrations were (mean +/- standard deviation) 46.4 +/- 10.8 microM (90 mg/kg QD), 45.7 +/- 6.9 microM (90 mg/ kg BID), and 64.9 +/- 31.7 microM (180 mg/kg QD) on day 1 and rose to 86.2 +/- 35.8, 78.7 +/- 35.2, and 86.4 +/- 25.0 microM, respectively, on day 8. The mean peak concentration in plasma following the intravenous administration of foscarnet (90 mg/kg) was 887.3 +/- 102.7 microM (n = 13). The terminal half-life in plasma remained unchanged, averaging 5.5 +/- 2.2 h on day 1 (n = 15) and 6.6 +/- 1.9 h on day 8 (n = 13), whereas it was 5.7 +/- 0.7 h following intravenous dosing. Oral bioavailabilities were 9.1% +/- 2.2% (90 mg/kg QD), 9.5% +/- 1.7% (90 mg/kg BID), and 7.6% +/- 3.7% (180 mg/kg QD); the accumulation ratios on the 8th day of dosing were 2.1 +/- 1.1, 1.8 +/- 0.4, and 1.7 +/- 0.7, respectively. The overall 24-h urinary excretion of oral foscarnet averaged 7.8% +/- 2.6% (day 1) and 13.4% +/- 6.0% (day 8), whereas it was 95.0% +/- 4.9% after intravenous dosing. The glomerular filtration rate and creatinine clearance remained constant, and the mean 24-h renal clearances of foscarnet for the entire study group were 96 +/- 18 ml/min (day 1), 88 +/- 13 ml/min (day 8), and 103 +/- 16 ml/min after intravenous dosing. Adverse effects were largely confined to gastrointestinal disturbances, with all subjects experiencing diarrhea that was dose dependent in its severity. The results suggest that the formulation studied would require significant improvement with respect to tolerability and bioavailability to gain clinical acceptance.

Administration, Oral↗