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Updated: Jun 5, 2026

Rapid Screening of HIV Reverse Transcriptase and Integrase Inhibitors
Published on: April 9, 2014
Aminotransferase serum levels decrease after initiating antiretroviral treatment in HIV infected patients
José Antonio Mata Marín1, Jesús Gaytán Martínez, Rafael Arias Flores
1Hospital de Infectología La Raza National Medical Center, Mexico City, Mexico. jamatamarin@yahoo.com.mx
Aim:
To evaluate the effect of antiretroviral treatment on aminotransferase serum levels in treatment-naïve patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
Methods:
We conducted a longitudinal study in treatment-nanaïve patients infected with HIV. Patients were excluded if they had consumed alcohol during the last three months or had an opportunistic disease or co-infection. All 54 enrolled patients were evaluated and those having a CD4+ cell count <350 cells/ml (41/54) were allocated to the treatment group (TG), while those with CD4+ counts >350 cells/ml (13/54) did not receive any anti-retroviral treatment (ART). TG patients received either efavirenz (EFV) (21/41) or lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/RTV) (20/41), each with zidovudine/lamivudine (ZDV/LMV).
Results:
During the trial, 2 subjects in the EFV group were excluded due to rash and 1 subject in the LPV/RTV group due to gastric intolerance. The remaining 51 subjects (13 (25.5%) in the NTG and 38 (74.5%) in the TG) were included in the data analysis. Overall, 43 (84%) of analyzed patients were male and 8 (16%) female with an overall mean age of 33 ± 9 years. Of the 38 treated patients, 19 received LPV/RTV and 19 received EFV. Patients in the TG showed an increase in their CD4+ cell count, a decrease in aspartate aminotransferase (AST) from 39.3 ± 28 IU/ml to 22.7 ± 6 IU/ml (p = 0.02), and a decrease in alanine aminotransferase (ALT) from 52.0 ± 25 IU/ml to 23.8 ± 13 IU/ml (p < 0.01). Patients in the NTG showed no statistically significant differences in these measurements. Positive correlation was found between HIV viral load, AST (r = 0.31, p = 0.001) and ALT (r = 0.40, p = 0.04).
Conclusions:
There is a significant decrease in aminotransferase serum levels following the initiation of antiretroviral treatment in HIV infected patients.
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