Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0019158 (hepatitis)
 30,205 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Merck & Co. has announced an expanded-access program to make Crixivan (generic name, indinavir sulfate), its experimental protease inhibitor, available to persons with a CD4 (T-helper) count of 50 or below. The new program will allow 1,100 people in the U.S. and 650 people from other countries to obtain the drug, formerly known as MK-639 and L-735,524. U.S. participants must register by August 11, 1995; those registered after that date will be placed on a waiting list. To be eligible, participants must have a CD4 count less than 50, be at least 18 years old, cannot have hepatitis, and cannot be pregnant or breastfeeding. Required laboratory tests, paid for by Merck, will fulfill additional entry criteria. Patients are allowed to combine the Crixivan with most other drugs. Patients in the open-label study will be treated by their own doctors.
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PMID:Merck protease inhibitor available to persons with CD4 count 50 or less--must register by August 11. 1136 18

While it appears that protease inhibitors in combination therapies are saving lives, questions continue: (1) which combinations of protease inhibitors and other antiretroviral agents are most effective in restoring immune function, (2) how these combinations can be used most effectively, and (3) what is the best time to start using them? An evaluation is presented on the immunological value of specific drug cocktail combinations and a comparison of the best and worst drug combinations and the reasons for this assessment. It indicates that Norvir is the most effective of all four protease inhibitors in preventing opportunistic infections, lymphomas, and cancers. D4T and 3TC are the safest and most effective of the nucleosides for preventing or remitting opportunistic infections when used with protease inhibitors. Rescriptor is the most therapeutic of the two non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors in increasing absorption of protease inhibitors. The best drug combination therapies are listed as follows: Norvir plus Rescriptor; Norvir plus D4T; Norvir plus 3TC; Norvir, Rescriptor, and D4T; Norvir, Rescriptor, and 3TC; Norvir, D4T, and 3TC; and Crixivan or Viracept plus Rescriptor plus either D4T or 3TC. The worst drug combination therapies are listed as follows: AZT plus ddI (used in combination with a protease inhibitor); AZT or ddI or Combivir (used in combinations with a protease inhibitor); and any two protease inhibitors used together in any person with active hepatitis or elevated liver enzymes or impaired kidney function.
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PMID:An evaluation of drug cocktail combinations for their immunological value in preventing/remitting opportunistic infections. 1136 16