Didanosine. An update on its antiviral activity, pharmacokinetic properties and therapeutic efficacy in the management of HIV disease
Abstract
Didanosine is a dideoxynucleoside analogue, which is phosphorylated to the active metabolite dideoxyadenosine triphosphate (ddATP) intracellularly. At therapeutic concentrations, ddATP inhibits HIV replication by inhibiting HIV reverse transcriptase. Didanosine is established as a first-line treatment for patients with HIV disease and has recently been shown to be superior to zidovudine monotherapy in the treatment of patients with intermediate-stage HIV infection. In clinical practice, however, combination regimens of antiretroviral drugs are generally considered preferable to monotherapy as first-line treatment for most patients with HIV disease. Importantly, 2 large multicentre studies have demonstrated that combination therapy with didanosine and zidovudine was more effective than zidovudine monotherapy in delaying disease progression and death in patients with intermediate or advanced HIV disease. In other comparative studies, improvements in surrogate markers of HIV disease were generally greater in patients who received combination therapy than in recipients of antiretroviral drug monotherapy. Improvements in surrogate markers were also observed in children who received didanosine monotherapy in several clinical trials. ...Continue Reading
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Antivirals are medications that are used specifically for treating viral infections. Discover the latest research on antivirals here.
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