title: Pharmacokinetics of lopinavir determined with an ELISA test in youths with perinatally acquired HIV.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the plasma levels of lopinavir by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in a cohort of patients who were vertically infected with human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV).
  
  
  METHODS
  Plasma levels of lopinavir (Cmin) were determined by ELISA test in patients treated with lopinavir/ritonavir-based combined antiretroviral therapy who had achieved virological response after 4 wk of therapy. Reference lopinavir concentrations were Cmin 1-8 μg/mL. Correlation between lopinavir plasma concentration and continuous variables was evaluated by mean of Pearson correlation coefficient. Differences in lopinavir (LPV) concentration for binary categorical variables were assessed by Mann-Whitney test, while for variables with more than two categories Kruskal-Wallis test was used.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thirty-four patients were enrolled; median age was 133 mo (15-265). The median lopinavir dose tested was 383.5 mg/kg (IQR: 266.6-400 mg/kg), with a median plasma concentration of 8.8 μg/mL (IQR: 5-14 μg/mL). Lopinavir Cmin was <1 μg/mL in only one sample (2.9 %), while 14 samples had Cmin between 1 and 8 μg/mL (41.2 %) and 19 (55.9 %) > 8 μg/mL. No significant correlations were found between plasma concentrations of lopinavir and the continuous variables considered in the study. A negative but, not completely significant, correlation was found between plasma drug concentration and body mass index (r = -0.29; p = 0.09).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The use of a simple and relatively cost-effective methodology might render therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) appeal in the daily clinical practice.
authors.affiliation: Infectious Diseases Clinic, San Martino Hospital, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Prinapori
authors.forename: Raffaella
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rosso
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Di Biagio
authors.forename: Franca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Miletich
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Furfaro
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Taramasso
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ginocchio
authors.forename: Vania
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Giacomet
authors.forename: Loredana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Nulvesu
authors.forename: Maria Pia
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Sormani
authors.forename: Irene
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Schiavetti
authors.forename: Alessio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Signori
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: De Hoffer
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Viscoli
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000635:transmission*; D017320:HIV Protease Inhibitors / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical; D061466:Lopinavir / Q000097:blood / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D008297:Male; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D017320:HIV Protease Inhibitors; D061466:Lopinavir