title: The effectiveness of combined saquinavir and ketoconazole treatment in reducing HIV viral load.
abstract: With the advent of protease inhibitors, the treatment of persons infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has resulted in lower levels of the virus in the blood. The first of these protease inhibitors was saquinavir, which inhibits the HIV protease enzyme responsible for post-translational processing of Gag and Gag-Po1 poly protein precursors into their functional products. Studies have suggested that ketoconazole, given in combination with saquinavir, increases the bioavailability of saquinavir. This study compared the HIV viral load in patients treated with saquinavir alone and in combination with ketoconazole. Results showed that while all patients who received saquinavir exhibited a positive response, patients who also received ketoconazole had a greater drop in viral load levels. In addition, a greater number of patients had undetectable viral levels after 3 months on the ketoconazole/saquinavir regimen. These results indicate that the combination of saquinavir/ketoconazole for the treatment of HIV requires further study.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Family Practice, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, King-Drew Medical Center, Los Angeles, California 90059, USA.
authors.forename: W C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Jordan
mesh_terms: D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy*; D017320:HIV Protease Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D007654:Ketoconazole / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D019258:Saquinavir / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D019562:Viral Load
chemical_list: D000935:Antifungal Agents; D017320:HIV Protease Inhibitors; D019258:Saquinavir; D007654:Ketoconazole