Protease Inhibitors Therapy for AIDS Patients

Protease inhibitors have had a significant clinical impact on treatment of previously treated and untreated patients with HIV infection. In the treatment of previously treated patients, the addition of a protease inhibitor and at least one other antiretroviral agent likely to be sensitive to that particular isolate, has resulted in significant increases in CD(4)(+) cell counts, decreases in plasma viral burden and substantial decreases in the rate of development of new clinical events and mortality. Dramatic and sustained reductions in viral burden have been noted in a majority of patients treated with such regimens. In addition to combining a protease inhibitor with one or more nucleoside analogs, pilot studies of combinations of two protease inhibitors or a protease inhibitor plus a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, have also demonstrated impressive drug efficacy and tolerance.