Long-term follow-up of antiretroviral-naive HIV-positive patients treated with nevirapine

This article reports on the extended follow-up of 125 antiretroviral (ARV)- naive patients treated with nevirapine (NVP) in the United Kingdom. The pat ients have been observed for a median of 1.8 years after starting NVP (rang e, 4 days-2.7 years). Baseline CD4 counts and HIV RNA levels were 210 (inte rquartile range, 130 - 335) cells/mm(3) and 4.86 (range, 4.52-5.26) log(10) copies/ml, respectively. Eleven patients (9.0%) developed a rash thought t o be related to NVP, of whom 4 permanently discontinued NVP. Twenty-four mo nths after starting NVP, RNA levels had dropped by a median of 2.32 log(10) copies/ml and CD4 counts increased by a median of 143 cells/mm(3). In all, 96 patients had at least one viral load measured <500 copies/ml, a median of 2.8 months after starting NVP. RNA levels rebounded >500 copies/ml in 37 of these patients, on average 2 years after initial response. In conclusio n, in ARV-naive patients, NVP is generally well tolerated and long-term res ponse rates are good.