ReutersBig.gif  
Back grey_arrow_rt.gif
 
 
Once daily lopinavir/ritonavir effective in HIV therapy
 
 
  NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - In antiretroviral-naive HIV patients, once daily treatment with lopinavir/ritonavir appears to have comparable results to those obtained with twice daily dosing, researchers report in the January 15th issue of the Journal of Infectious Diseases.
 
Dr. Joseph J. Eron of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and colleagues note that single daily dosing of the protease inhibitor combination produces high concentrations in HIV-free volunteers, and they hypothesized that such an approach might be useful in HIV patients.
 
Accordingly, the researchers randomized 38 antiretroviral-naive HIV patients to receive lopinavir/ritonavir once daily at a dose of 800/200 mg or twice daily at a dose of 400/100 mg. Both groups also received stavudine and lamivudine twice daily.
 
Over the course of the 48-week pilot study, median pre-dose concentrations of lopinavir went well beyond a measure based on that needed to inhibit replication of wild-type HIV by 50% in vitro. This was exceeded by 40-fold in the once daily group and 84-fold in the twice-daily group.
 
Predose concentrations of lopinavir were more variable in the once-daily than twice-daily group. However, at the end of the study period, 74% of once-daily and 79% of twice-daily patients had HIV RNA levels below 50 copies per mL.
 
One patient in each group discontinued because of adverse events and "in general," say the investigators, the once-daily dose "was well tolerated." In addition, there was no evidence of protease-inhibitor resistance mutations.
 
Thus the researchers conclude that the combination "taken once daily has antiretroviral and immunological activity similar to that of the twice-daily" regimen.
 
J Infect Dis 2004;189:265-272.
 

 

 
Copyright © 2004 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.
 
 
 
 
  icon paper stack View Older Articles   Back to Top   www.natap.org