Abstract
BackgroundDolutegravir (DTG) plus darunavir/ritonavir (DRV/r) is a simple combination of drugs that has the best genetic barrier to HIV-1 resistance and may be fit for salvage therapy.MethodsAll HIV-1-infected subjects treated with DTG plus DRV/r between March 2014 and September 2015 in eight Italian centres were included in the analysis. The main metabolic data, efficacy parameters and safety data routinely collected were provided. This observational study is aimed to assess the efficacy of such approach. The primary end-point was the proportion of subjects achieving or maintaining virologic suppression <50 copies/mL at week 24. Secondary end points were maintaining virologic suppression in the follow-up (weeks 48 and 96) and safety.ResultsOne hundred and thirty subjects were followed for a median of 56 months. Reasons for switching were simplification (44.6%), viral failure (30%), toxicity (16.9%), non-adherence (4.6%), persistent low-level viremia (3.1%), and drug-drug interaction (0.8%). At baseline, 118 subjects had documented resistance to 1 to 5 antiretroviral classes while 12 had viral rebound at a time when genotypic tests were not yet available.Seventeen and 14 subjects took DRV/r and DTG twice daily, respectively. One subject was lost to follow-up, one discontinued for liver enzymes’ elevation, one died of illicit drug abuse and one of cancer-related complications.The proportion of subjects with ongoing HIV replication dropped from 40% to 6.1%. Those with undetectable viral load increased from 38.5% to 76.2%. At week 48, 17.7% had HIV RNA between 1 and 49 copies/mL.The number of subjects with altered serum glucose, creatinine, ALT, AST, total-, HDL- and LDL-cholesterol, triglycerides and MDRD <90 mL/min decreased by week 48, while those having MDRD <60 mL/min remained 4.6%. Overall 90/283 baseline laboratory alterations returned to normality.ConclusionsSwitching to DTG plus DRV/r proved to be safe, suppressing viral replication without metabolic impact.
Highlights
Dolutegravir (DTG) plus darunavir/ritonavir (DRV/r) is a simple combination of drugs that has the best genetic barrier to Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) resistance and may be fit for salvage therapy
The present work is the 48-week update of a previously reported study [1], concerning a retrospective-prospective follow-up of subjects who had been switched for any reason to a dual combination of dolutegravir (DTG) plus darunavir/ritonavir (DRV/r)
When we started this strategy of dual rescue therapy or simplification of more complex rescue regimens, the OPTIONS study, the first randomized trial to utilize a web utility in combination with centralized expert opinion to guide the selection of salvage antiretroviral therapy was published [3]
Summary
Dolutegravir (DTG) plus darunavir/ritonavir (DRV/r) is a simple combination of drugs that has the best genetic barrier to HIV-1 resistance and may be fit for salvage therapy. The present work is the 48-week update of a previously reported study [1], concerning a retrospective-prospective follow-up of subjects who had been switched for any reason to a dual combination of dolutegravir (DTG) plus darunavir/ritonavir (DRV/r). A randomized clinical trial comparing the switch to this regimen towards the continuation of DRV/r plus 2 nucleoside analogues is still recruiting patients [2]. When we started this strategy of dual rescue therapy or simplification of more complex rescue regimens, the OPTIONS study, the first randomized trial to utilize a web utility in combination with centralized expert opinion to guide the selection of salvage antiretroviral therapy was published [3].
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