ALTAIR — The End of NRTI-Only Regimens

In a randomized study, standard combination therapy was preferable to a quadruple-NRTI regimen in terms of both virologic control and adverse effects.

Antiretroviral therapy (ART) has had dramatic effects on morbidity and mortality, but adverse effects and multiclass resistance continue to threaten the longevity of many combination therapies. Class-sparing regimens have theoretical appeal, but regimens consisting of three NRTIs have uniformly underperformed when compared with standard regimens. Preliminary studies have shown promising results for a quadruple-NRTI regimen consisting of tenofovir, FTC, AZT, and abacavir, but only now has the regimen been tested against standard therapies in a large-scale trial.

The ALTAIR study — described by David Cooper at the 5th IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention — involved 322 treatment-naive, HLA-B*5701–negative patients who w…

Author

Helmut Albrecht, MD

Disclosures

Grant / Research supportHealth Resources and Services Administration; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Leadership positions in professional societiesColumbia Medical Society; South Carolina Infectious Diseases Society

Helmut Albrecht, MD

Disclosures

Grant / Research supportHealth Resources and Services Administration; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Leadership positions in professional societiesColumbia Medical Society; South Carolina Infectious Diseases Society

ALTAIR — The End of NRTI-Only Regimens

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