title: HIV therapy after treatment interruption in patients with multiple failure and more than 200 CD4+ T lymphocyte count.
abstract: The aim of the study was to investigate the safety and efficacy of a salvage therapy initiated after interrupting treatment in patients with virological failure and more than 200 CD4(+) T lymphocyte count. In this prospective study, 77 patients who received failing regimens had stopped completely all medication for 3 months before starting an optimised regimen consisting of 3-5 drugs. Patients were tested for HIV resistance before and after treatment interruption. Discontinuation of therapy for 3 months was associated with a median increase in HIV RNA of 1.1 log(10), a median decrease in CD4(+) T cell count of 136 x 10(6)/L and five clinical events related to HIV, but no AIDS-defining event. Eighty-seven percent of patients showed a shift from a drug resistant genotype to a wild-type genotype based on the major resistance mutations. Forty-seven percent of patients with a genotype shift reached fewer than 200 HIV RNA copies/ml of plasma 6 and 12 months after treatment resumption whereas none of those without a genotype shift did so (P = 0.03). However, the genotypic shift was not associated with a sustained virological response by multivariate analysis. The use of a new therapeutic class of compound in the salvage regimen was the only predictor of the sustained virological response. Salvage therapy with 3-5 drugs after interrupting treatment for 3 months can be a safe and effective strategy provided the HIV disease is not too advanced. Randomised trials in this population are needed to assess the clinical benefit of this strategy.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Virologie, Hôpital Purpan, CHU Toulouse, Toulouse Cédex, France.
authors.forename: Acil
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jaafar
authors.forename: Patrice
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Massip
authors.forename: Karine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sandres-Sauné
authors.forename: Corinne
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Souyris
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pasquier
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Aquilina
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Izopet
mesh_terms: D017088:AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D023241:Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D002177:Candidiasis; D024882:Drug Resistance, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006678:HIV / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010523:Peripheral Nervous System Diseases; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics; D016879:Salvage Therapy; D014766:Viremia
chemical_list: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents; D012367:RNA, Viral