Evaluation of the effects of the antiretroviral drug regimen (Stavudine +Lamivudine + Nevirapine) on CD4 count, body weight and Hb% of the HIV patients – A retrospective study

Authors

Reshma S R, Department of Pharmacology, JJM Medical College, Davanagere, KarnatakaFollow
Navin A P, Department of Pharmacology, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal University, Manipal-576104Follow
Narendranath S, Department of Pharmacology, JJM Medical College, Davanagere, KarnatakaFollow
Dinakar K R, Department of Pharmacology, JJM Medical College, Davanagere, KarnatakaFollow
Keerthi Sagar J, Department of Pharmacology, JJM Medical College, Davanagere, KarnatakaFollow
Somashekar H S, Department of Pharmacology, Vishwabharathi Medical College and General Hospital, KurnoolFollow
Vaneet Aggarwal, Department of Pharmacology, JJM Medical College, Davanagere, KarnatakaFollow

Abstract

Human immunodeficiency virus infection (HIV) has become a manageable disease due to antiretroviral therapy. Although many treatment schedules are effective in controlling the viral load, maintaining it for a long period is difficult due to many factors such as adverse effects, long-term toxicity, and dosing schedules, all of them may result in poor patient compliance, treatment failure and drug resistance. The evaluation of these treatment schedules in terms of their efficacy, duration, and acceptance is an important aspect for treating doctors, patients, and policy makers. Therefore, our objective is to evaluate stavudine, lamivudine, and nevirapine regimen in the management of HIV infection in our hospital. Methodology: An observational study was done in the ART centre of CG Hospital, Davanagere. The data were collected for the duration of 12 months (June 2012 to May 2013). Institutional ethics committee approval was taken before the initiation of the study. For inclusion in the study, the patients had to be antiretroviral (ARV) naive and receiving their ARV medication i.e., a combination of stavudine, lamivudine, and nevirapine therapy through the Government ART Program. Results: Among the 94 patients included, CD4 count after 6 months of treatment was 303 cells/mm3 as compared to the initial count of 163 cells/mm3 . Likewise, an improvement was recorded in hemoglobin level and body weight by approximately 2g% and 3 kg, respectively. Conclusion: In the present study, there was a significant improvement in CD4 count, body weight, and haemoglobin level when compared to the initial, after 6 months of treatment with combination therapy of stavudine, lamivudine and nevirapine. However, there was no difference in response between the severe ill patients (CD4 count < 200 cells/mm3) when compared to the patients with CD4 count ≥ 200 cells/ mm3. HIV infection can be tackled by a combined approach of multidrug therapy to prevent resistance and community based approach with good nutritional and dietary supplementation.

Recommended Citation

S R, Reshma; A P, Navin; S, Narendranath; K R, Dinakar; J, Keerthi Sagar; H S, Somashekar; and Aggarwal, Vaneet (2016) "Evaluation of the effects of the antiretroviral drug regimen (Stavudine +Lamivudine + Nevirapine) on CD4 count, body weight and Hb% of the HIV patients – A retrospective study," Manipal Journal of Medical Sciences: Vol. 1: Iss. 2, Article 8.
Available at: https://impressions.manipal.edu/mjms/vol1/iss2/8