Failure of combination abacavir + tenofovir + lamivudine (3TC).In late July 2003 GlaxoSmithKline warned physicians that a three-drug combination of lamivudine lamivudine /la·miv·u·dine/ (lah-miv´u-den) a nucleoside analogue that inhibits reverse transcriptase, used as an antiviral agent in the treatment of chronic hepatitis B and, in combination with zidovudine, the treatment of HIV infection (Epivir[R]), abacavir (Ziagen[R]) and tenofovir (Viread[TM]) had failed to control HIV HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), either of two closely related retroviruses that invade T-helper lymphocytes and are responsible for AIDS. There are two types of HIV: HIV-1 and HIV-2. HIV-1 is responsible for the vast majority of AIDS in the United States. effectively in about half the treatment-naive patients in a clinical trial. The cause of the reduced response to this particular regimen regimen /reg·i·men/ (rej´i-men) a strictly regulated scheme of diet, exercise, or other activity designed to achieve certain ends. reg·i·men n. 1. is not known, but it may involve mutations causing cross-resistance to the drugs; Glaxo is also checking for chemical interactions inside the cell. The problem is not due to any one of the drugs; rather, for some reason this particular combination turned out not to work well. The company advised: "Abacavir and lamivudine in combination with tenofovir should not be used as a triple antiretroviral antiretroviral /an·ti·ret·ro·vi·ral/ (-ret´ro-vi?ral) effective against retroviruses, or an agent with this quality. an·ti·ret·ro·vi·ral adj. therapy when considering a new treatment regimen for naive naive - Untutored in the perversities of some particular program or system; one who still tries to do things in an intuitive way, rather than the right way (in really good designs these coincide, but most designs aren't "really good" in the appropriate sense). or pre-treated patients; "Any patient currently controlled on therapy with this combination should be closely monitored and considered for modification of therapy; and "Any usage of this triple combination with other antiretroviral agents should be closely monitored for signs of treatment failure." |
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