AIDSWEEKLY Plus; Monday, May 22, 2000
Prepared by AIDS Weekly editors from staff and other reports

Among its conclusions, the panel presents recommendations for resistance testing in the development of new drug regimens following treatment failure, and in developing therapy for pregnant women infected with HIV.

"HIV drug resistance testing has become a part of the standard management of patients with HIV, helping to determine what drugs will or will not work," said Douglas Richman, MD, professor of Medicine and Pathology at the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, was vice-chair of the panel and senior author of the paper. "However, how to use these tests optimally has been a moving target. We developed these guidelines based on all the most current data to help physicians use the tests more efficiently in designing effective drug therapies for people with HIV."

Richman is also a member of the Board of Directors of the International AIDS Society-USA, the not-for-profit HIV education organization that convened the panel and sponsored the report.

The Resistance Testing Panel was chaired by Martin Hirsch, MD, professor of Medicine at Harvard University School of Medicine.

"Several recent studies have shown that the use of HIV drug resistance testing can aid in the management of certain HIV infected patients whose drug regimens are failing," said Hirsch. "When used together with expert interpretation, these assays can help physicians choose more effective regimens to suppress virus replication."

As Hirsch notes, an increasingly common problem in the treatment of HIV is failure of a drug regimen after a period of success. It has been shown that in many cases this is due to the onset of HIV resistance to certain drugs. Since the patient may still be responding to some drugs in the regimen, the panel strongly recommends resistance testing for patients, in whom treatment is failing, to pinpoint which drugs might still be effective before designing a new treatment.

The panel also recommends testing in pregnant women with HIV infection in order to develop drug regimens that will decrease the risk of transmission of the virus, or of drug resistant virus, to the unborn baby during pregnancy.

The panel recommends that physicians consider resistance testing for patients who are infected but have not yet received any treatment, whether they are recently infected or have established infection. However, they note that data are not compelling enough to recommend routine testing for all patients in this category. Although testing might be useful, they urge physicians to use their judgment and monitor the patient carefully for signs of drug resistance once treatment has been initiated.

This article was prepared by AIDS Weekly editors from staff and other reports.

Reference: JAMA 2000 May 10;283(18):2417-26

000522
AW000508

Copyright © 2000 - Charles Henderson, Publisher. All rights Reserved. Permission to reproduce granted to AEGIS by Charles W. Henderson. Authorization to reproduce for personal use granted granted by C. W. Henderson, Publisher, provided that the fee of US$4.50 per copy, per page is paid directly to the Copyright Clearance Center, 27 Congress Street, Salem, Massachusetts 01970, USA. Published by Charles Henderson, Publisher. Editorial & Publishing Office: P.O. Box 5528, Atlanta, GA 30307-0528 / Telephone: (800) 633-4931; Subscription Office: P.O. Box 830409, Birmingham, AL 35283-0409 / FAX: (205) 995-1588 http://www.newsrx.net

AEGiS is made possible through unrestricted grants from Boehringer Ingelheim, iMetrikus, Inc., John M. Lloyd Foundation, the National Library of Medicine, and donations from users like you. Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2000. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.

AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.

Copyright ©1990, 2000. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content.