title: Long-term follow-up of antiretroviral-naive HIV-positive patients treated with nevirapine.
abstract: This article reports on the extended follow-up of 125 antiretroviral (ARV)-naive patients treated with nevirapine (NVP) in the United Kingdom. The patients have been observed for a median of 1.8 years after starting NVP (range, 4 days-2.7 years). Baseline CD4 counts and HIV RNA levels were 210 (interquartile range, 130 - 335) cells/mm3 and 4.86 (range, 4.52-5.26) log10 copies/ml, respectively. Eleven patients (9.0%) developed a rash thought to be related to NVP, of whom 4 permanently discontinued NVP. Twenty-four months after starting NVP, RNA levels had dropped by a median of 2.32 log10 copies/ml and CD4 counts increased by a median of 143 cells/mm3. In all, 96 patients had at least one viral load measured <500 copies/ml, a median of 2.8 months after starting NVP. RNA levels rebounded >500 copies/ml in 37 of these patients, on average 2 years after initial response. In conclusion, in ARV-naive patients, NVP is generally well tolerated and long-term response rates are good.
authors.affiliation: Department of Primary Care and Population Sciences, Royal Free & University College Medical School, London, UK. c.sabin@pcps.ucl.ac.uk
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Sabin
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fisher
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Churchill
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pozniak
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hay
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Easterbrook
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Williams
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000821:virology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019829:Nevirapine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D018894:Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents; D012367:RNA, Viral; D018894:Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors; D019829:Nevirapine