title: Long-term assessment of didanosine, lamivudine, and efavirenz in antiretroviral-naive patients: 3-year follow-up.
abstract: The aim of this study was to evaluate the long-term efficacy and safety of didadosine (ddI), lamivudine (3TC), and efavirenz (EFV). This was a follow-up to the VESD study, a 12-month open-label, observational, multicenter study of adult patients with HIV infection who started antiretroviral treatment with the ddI-3TC-EFV once-daily regimen. Of the 167 patients originally included, 106 patients remained on the same triple therapy at the end of the study (1 year), and they were offered an extra 24 months of follow-up; 96 were enrolled in this study (VESD-2). Seventy patients out of the initial cohort were still on the same regimen at month 36, with 97% of them with plasma viral load <50 copies /ml. An intention-to-treat analysis showed that the percentage of patients with plasma viral load <50 copies/ml was 73% at 36 months. CD4 cell counts increased 344 cells/microl over the 36 months. Safety and tolerance were good with no unexpected long-term toxicity. After 3 years of treatment with ddI-3TC-EFV, more than 40% of the patients were still receiving the initial antiretroviral therapy with sustained, durable immunovirological benefit and good acceptance. Long-term toxicity and virological failure were low.
authors.affiliation: Hospital Virgen de la Victoria, Málaga, Spain. med000854@saludalia.com
authors.forename: Jesús
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: Rosario
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Palacios
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lozano
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: López
authors.forename: María Carmen
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Gálvez
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: de la Torres
authors.forename: Luis Fernando
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: López-Cortés
authors.forename: María José
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Ríos
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rivero
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000480:Alkynes; D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D048588:Benzoxazines / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003521:Cyclopropanes; D016049:Didanosine / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D019259:Lamivudine / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018894:Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D019562:Viral Load
chemical_list: D000480:Alkynes; D019380:Anti-HIV Agents; D048588:Benzoxazines; D003521:Cyclopropanes; D018894:Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors; D019259:Lamivudine; C098320:efavirenz; D016049:Didanosine