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HIV patients' gastrointestinal tolerability and treatment satisfaction after switching from lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r) SGC to co-formulated LPV/r tablets

Purpose of the study

The purpose of the study was to evaluate patient GI tolerability and perceived Tx satisfaction after switching from LPV/r SGC to LPV/r tablets.

Methods

Adult patients under LPV/r SGC Tx for at least 6 months, and with >95% adherence, were included. Following data were collected: overall GI side-effects; presence and gradation of diarrhea according to WHO severity scale; antidiarrheal drugs administration during the last month under LPV/r SGC Tx, and during 2nd and 6th month after switching to LPV/r tablets. Also, patient Tx satisfaction grade and preferences data were gathered.

Summary of results

Forty patients (28 male), mean age 39.9 ± 5.6 years, were evaluated. Two patients withdrew from the study: one due to grade 4 diarrhea and the other due to hair loss. GI effects such abdominal pain, flatulence and nausea were mild grade. However, during the last month under SGC Tx, 16 (40%) patients did not suffer diarrhea; and 24 did show diarrhea, of them 14 (35%) individuals suffered grade 1, eight (22.5%) grade 2 and one (2.5%) grade 4. During the 2nd month under LPV/r tablets Tx, diarrhea disappeared or decreased in intensity in 75% of patients. During 6th month under tablet Tx, 28 patients (70%) did not have diarrhea. From the 12 remaining patients (30%) with diarrhea at month 6, nine (22.5%) had grade 1, two (5%) grade 2, and one (2.5%) grade 4. During the last month of LPV/r SGC Tx, five patients were taking antidiarrheal drugs in contrast to only one patient during the 6th month under tablet Tx. 83% of the individuals answered the Tx satisfaction questionnaire: 98% of them referred to be Extremely satisfied, Very satisfied or Satisfied switching from LPV/r SGC to LPV/r tablets; 89% of patient preferred LPV/r tablets and 11% liked both equally.

Conclusion

New co-formulated LPV/r formulation (tablets) has been well appreciated and tolerated by our patients, with a considerable decrease in GI effects, especially in the drug-related diarrhea severity.

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Open Access This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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Borras-Blasco, J., Rosique-Robles, J., Belda, A. et al. HIV patients' gastrointestinal tolerability and treatment satisfaction after switching from lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r) SGC to co-formulated LPV/r tablets. JIAS 11 (Suppl 1), P162 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1186/1758-2652-11-S1-P162

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1758-2652-11-S1-P162

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