PHARMACOKINETIC INDIVIDUALIZATION OF ZIDOVUDINE THERAPY - CURRENT STATE OF PHARMACOKINETIC-PHARMACODYNAMIC RELATIONSHIPS

Zidovudine is the cornerstone of current antiretroviral treatment of h uman immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, Its use, however, frequen tly leads to adverse reactions, including myelosuppression. Zidovudine pharmacokinetics show large interindividual variation with indication s of pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic relationships, but a clear therap eutic window has not yet been defined, Individualisation of zidovndine therapy with monitoring of drug concentrations might be desirable. Th is review considers (intracellular) monitoring of zidovudine and anabo lites for individualisation of zidovudine therapy and the achievements in describing pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic relationship so far.