Related factors to atazanavir plasma levels in a cohort of HIV positive individuals with undetectable viral load

• Autor(a) principal: Luz,Ana Júlia
• Data de Publicação: 2013
• Outros Autores: Poeta,Júlia, Linden,Rafael, Antunes,Marina Venzon, Caminha,Luiza Isola, Sprinz,Eduardo
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Brazilian Journal of Infectious Diseases
• Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1413-86702013000600006
• topic: Atazanavir; Plasma levels; Drug concentration; Ritonavir; Lipid profile

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the factors associated with plasma concentrations of atazanavir (ATV) in a cohort of well-controlled HIV infected subjects (undetectable viremia). Design: Cross-sectional study where 69 subjects were consecutively enrolled between April and November, 2011. METHODS: Patients had to be on atazanavir for at least six months, undetectable viral load for a period equal to or longer than 12 months, T CD4+ lymphocyte count higher than 200 cells/mm³, and aged between 18 years and 70 years old. Exclusion criteria were pregnancy, any neurologic disease, active opportunistic disease, hepatitis or cancer. Atazanavir plasma levels were measured by ultra-performance liquid chromatography. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Overall, 54 patients (mean age of 47 years and 50% women) were included in the analysis. Those without ritonavir (unboosted atazanavir) had statistically lower plasma concentrations than those with ritonavir boosted atazanavir (p = 0.001) and total and indirect bilirubin were statistically associated with plasma concentration of atazanavir (r = 0.32 and r = 0.33 respectively; p < 0.05 in both cases). no statistical association was found among gender, ethnicity, age, weight, body mass index (BMI), lipid profile, and the plasma concentration of atazanavir. CONCLUSION: in summary, as expected, concomitant ritonavir use was the only factor associated with atazanavir plasma levels. prospective studies with a larger sample size might help to observe an association of atazanavir concentrations to other characteristics such as body weight, since the p-value showed to be close to significance (p = 0.068).