title: The rabbit study: ritonavir and saquinavir in combination in saquinavir-experienced and previously untreated patients.
abstract: Thirteen protease inhibitor-naive patients with HIV-1 infection, and 12 patients with a median of 58 months prior treatment with saquinavir (SQV) monotherapy, were treated with SQV (400 mg twice daily) and ritonavir (RIT, 500 mg twice daily) in a study designed to assess the effect of prior treatment with SQV monotherapy on the antiretroviral activity of RIT-SQV combination therapy. Median baseline viral load and CD4+ cell counts were 155,000 and 262,000 copies/ml and 333 and 225 cells/mm3 in the naive and experienced groups, respectively. Mean viral load changes at 24 weeks were -1.63 and -0.27 log copies/ml in the naive and SQV-experienced groups, respectively (intent-to-treat analysis). Baseline genotype by point mutation assay and sequencing in the SQV-experienced group was highly predictive of virological response. Eight of 11 SQV-experienced patients had evidence of phenotypic resistance to RIT at baseline, despite previous treatment with SQV only. There was strong correlation between phenotypic resistance to RIT and the presence of the L90M mutation. We conclude that prolonged prior treatment with saquinavir monotherapy may produce cross-resistance to ritonavir and reduce the subsequent response to ritonavir-saquinavir in combination. In this study, both phenotypic resistance to ritonavir and presence of the L90M mutation predicted the viral load response to ritonavir-saquinavir.
authors.affiliation: Division of Medicine, Imperial College School of Medicine, St. Mary's Hospital, London, UK. DuncanChurchill@ukf.net
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Churchill
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Pym
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Galpin
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Foxall
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Stainsby
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Clarke
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kaye
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bloor
authors.forename: B A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Larder
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wills
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: A G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Babiker
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Back
authors.forename: J N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Weber
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004347:Drug Interactions; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial / Q000235:genetics; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D015684:Gene Products, pol / Q000235:genetics; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000821:virology; D017320:HIV Protease Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009154:Mutation; D019438:Ritonavir / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D019258:Saquinavir / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D019562:Viral Load
chemical_list: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents; D015684:Gene Products, pol; D017320:HIV Protease Inhibitors; D019258:Saquinavir; D019438:Ritonavir