title: Darunavir concentrations in cerebrospinal fluid and blood in HIV-1-infected individuals.
abstract: Darunavir is the most recently licensed protease inhibitor currently used in treatment-experienced HIV-infected individuals. Our objective was to determine darunavir concentrations in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and plasma in subjects receiving antiretroviral treatment regimens containing ritonavir-boosted darunavir. Darunavir concentrations were determined by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry in 14 paired CSF and plasma samples from eight HIV-1-infected individuals. The lower limit of quantification was 5.0 ng/ml. All of the 14 CSF samples had detectable darunavir concentrations with a median darunavir concentration of 34.2 ng/ml (range 15.9-212.0 ng/ml). The median (range) plasma darunavir concentration was 3930 (1800-12900) ng/ml. All CSF samples had detectable darunavir concentrations. Most of them exceeded or were in the same range as levels needed to inhibit replication of wild type virus, making it probable that darunavir, at least to some extent, contributes to the suppression of HIV replication in the central nervous system.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden. aylin.yilmaz@infect.gu.se
authors.forename: Aylin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yilmaz
authors.forename: Arash
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Izadkhashti
authors.forename: Richard W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Price
authors.forename: Patrick W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Mallon
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: De Meulder
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Timmerman
authors.forename: Magnus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gisslén