title: Overview of the effectiveness of triple combination therapy in antiretroviral-naive HIV-1 infected adults.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To estimate the effectiveness of triple combination therapy in antiretroviral-naive adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  A systematic overview of results from clinical trials involving triple combination therapy with dual nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTI) and: a protease inhibitor (PI triple); a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI triple); or a third NRTI (triple NUC). Data from 23 clinical trials involving 31 independent treatment groups, 19 unique antiretroviral regimens, and 3257 enrolled patients were included in this study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Median log(10) baseline plasma HIV RNA and CD4 cell count over all trials averaged 4.69 (49,329 copies/ml) and 375 x 10(6) cells/l, respectively. The overall estimated percentage of patients with plasma HIV RNA < or = 400 copies/ml at 24 weeks was 64% [95% confidence interval (CI), 60 to 67%]. The percentages of patients with plasma HIV RNA < or = 50 copies/ml at 48 weeks by drug class were: PI triple, 46% (95% CI, 41 to 52%); NNRTI triple, 51% (95% CI, 43 to 59%); triple NUC, 45% (95% CI, 36 to 54%). The CD4 cell count increase over all trials at 24 and 48 weeks averaged +123 x 10(6) cells/l (95% CI, 111 x 10(6) to 135 x 10(6) cells/l) and +160 x 10(6) cells/l (95% CI, 146 x 10(6) to 175 x 10(6) cells/l), respectively and did not differ between drug classes. In multivariable regression analysis, neither baseline plasma HIV RNA level and CD4 cell count nor treatment regimen predicted plasma HIV RNA < or = 50 copies/ml at week 48. However, pill count was significantly negatively associated with plasma HIV RNA < or = 50 copies/ml at week 48 (P = 0.0085).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results suggest that three drug regimens containing two NRTI with a PI, a NNRTI, or a third NRTI may provide comparable activity, and practical issues such as daily pill burden should be considered when choosing a treatment regimen.
authors.affiliation: Duke University Medical Center, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27710, USA.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Bartlett
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: DeMasi
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Quinn
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Moxham
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rousseau
mesh_terms: D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D006678:HIV; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D017320:HIV Protease Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012044:Regression Analysis; D018894:Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D019562:Viral Load
chemical_list: D017320:HIV Protease Inhibitors; D018894:Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors