Efavirenz Plus Zidovudine and Lamivudine, Efavirenz Plus Indinavir, and Indinavir Plus Zidovudine and Lamivudine in the Treatment of HIV-1 Infection in Adults
Staszewski, Schlomo; Morales-Ramirez, Javier; Tashima, Karen T.; et al.; New England Journal of Medicine (12/16/99) Vol. 341, No. 25, P. 1865.
Research on antiretroviral drugs used to combat HIV-1 recently compared two new regimens of drug treatment containing the nonnucleoside reversetranscriptase inhibitor efavirenz with a drug cocktail made up of zidovudine, lamivudine, and the protease inhibitor indinavir. The study included 450 adults who had not been treated with lamivudine or any nonnucleoside reverse-transcriptase inhibitor or protease inhibitor before.
The patients were randomly assigned one of three possible regimens: efavirenz plus zidovudine and lamivudine, indinavir plus zidovudine and lamivudine, or efavirenz plus indinavir. Results of the study, which included an average follow-up time of 335 days after treatment started, showed that 49 patients discontinued treatment because of adverse events; 30 of these patients were in the indinavir plus nucleoside reverse-transcriptase inhibitor group. Overall, the scientists found that the combination of efavirenz plus zidovudine and lamivudine had better antiretroviral activity and fewer adverse effects than the indinavir, zidovudine, and lamivudine therapy.
The researchers note that the results "strongly support" the use of efavirenz in HIV-1 infected individuals who have not previously been treated.
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