title: Antiretroviral treatment of HIV infection: Swedish recommendations 2007.
abstract: On 3 previous occasions, in 2002, 2003 and 2005, the Swedish Medical Products Agency (Läkemedelsverket) and the Swedish Reference Group for Antiviral Therapy (RAV) have jointly published recommendations for the treatment of HIV infection. An expert group, under the guidance of RAV, has now revised the text again. Since the publication of the previous treatment recommendations, 1 new drug for the treatment of HIV has been approved - the protease inhibitor (PI) darunavir (Prezista). Furthermore, 3 new drugs have become available: the integrase inhibitor raltegravir (MK-0518), the CCR5-inhibitor maraviroc (Celsentri), both of which have novel mechanisms of action, and the non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) etravirine (TMC-125). The new guidelines differ from the previous ones in several respects. The most important of these are that abacavir is now preferred to tenofovir and zidovudine, as a first line drug in treatment-naïve patients, and that initiation of antiretroviral treatment is now recommended before the CD4 cell count falls below 250/microl, rather than 200/microl. Furthermore, recommendations on the treatment of HIV infection in children have been added to the document. As in the case of the previous publication, recommendations are evidence-graded in accordance with the Oxford Centre for Evidence Based Medicine, 2001 (see http://www.cebm.net/levels_of_evidence.asp#levels).
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden. filip.josephson@karolinska.se
authors.forename: Filip
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Josephson
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Albert
authors.forename: Leo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Flamholc
authors.forename: Magnus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gisslén
authors.forename: Olof
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Karlström
authors.forename: Susanne-Rosa
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Lindgren
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Navér
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sandström
authors.forename: Veronica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Svedhem-Johansson
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Svennerholm
authors.forename: Anders
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sönnerborg
mesh_terms: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D044966:Anti-Retroviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D013548:Sweden
chemical_list: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents; D044966:Anti-Retroviral Agents