title: Raltegravir: a review of its use in the management of HIV infection in treatment-experienced patients.
abstract: Raltegravir (Isentress), an integrase inhibitor, inhibits the insertion of HIV-1 complementary DNA into the host genome. It is indicated in combination with other antiretroviral therapy (ART) agents for the treatment of HIV-1 infection in treatment-experienced adult patients who have evidence of viral replication and HIV-1 strains resistant to multiple ART agents. It is the first of a new class of ART agents to be approved that, as a result of a different mechanism of action to other ART agents, has good activity against multidrug-resistant HIV-1 strains. In clinical trials in treatment-experienced patients with HIV-1 infection and evidence of viral replication, the addition of oral raltegravir to an optimized background therapy (OBT) regimen improved virological and immunological responses at 16 and 48 weeks to a greater extent than placebo plus OBT. Raltegravir therapy was generally well tolerated, with a similar incidence of mild to moderate adverse events in the treatment and placebo arms. The introduction of integrase inhibitors extends the options available for managing treatment-experienced patients with multiple-drug-resistant HIV-1 infection. Results to date suggest that the combination of raltegravir and OBT will be a valuable treatment option for this difficult-to-treat patient group.
authors.affiliation: Wolters Kluwer Health/Adis, 41 Centorian Drive, Mairangi Bay, North Shore 0754, Auckland, New Zealand. demail@adis.co.nz
authors.forename: Jamie D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Croxtall
authors.forename: Susan J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Keam
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D004347:Drug Interactions; D024882:Drug Resistance, Viral; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D019428:HIV Integrase Inhibitors / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D011760:Pyrrolidinones / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000068898:Raltegravir Potassium; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D019428:HIV Integrase Inhibitors; D011760:Pyrrolidinones; D000068898:Raltegravir Potassium