Publications

Antiretroviral drug toxicity in relation to pharmacokinetics, metabolic profile and pharmacogenetics

Arab-Alameddine M, Décosterd LA, Buclin T, Telenti A, Csajka C

PMID: 21500966

Abstract

Besides therapeutic effectiveness, drug tolerability is a key issue for treatments that must be taken indefinitely. Given the high prevalence of toxicity in HIV therapy, the factors implicated in drug-induced morbidities should be identified in order to improve the safety, tolerability and adherence to the treatments. Current approaches have focused almost exclusively on parent drug concentrations; whereas recent evidence suggests that drug metabolites resulting from complex genetic and environmental influences can also contribute to treatment outcome. Pharmacogenetic variations have shown to play a relevant role in the variability observed in antiretroviral drug exposure, clinical response and sometimes toxicity. The integration of pharmacokinetic, pharmacogenetic and metabolic determinants will more probably address current therapeutic needs in patients.