A multicentre study to determine the efficacy and tolerability of a combination of nelfinavir (VIRACEPT), zalcitabine (HIVID) and zidovudine in the treatment of HIV infected Nigerian patients

Summary Forty (40) HIV positive patients with CD4 cell counts between 100 - 500 cellh/mm3 were recruited from 8 different centres in Nigeria including a research centre and specialist and teaching hospitaLs They were enrolled into an open, non-comparative study of a triple combination regimen containing the Protease Inhibitor (PI), Nelfinavir and two Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors (RTIs), Zakitabine (Hivid) and Zidovudine for a period of 24 weeks. Thirty-one (31) patients completed the study. Nine (9) patients withdrew from the study. Two of these because of Adverse Events (AE), 2 others because they developed tuberculosis and had to withdraw because of rifampicin therapy. The remaining five (5), withdrew voluntarily. Efficacy of the PI containing triple regimen was evaluated using viral load and absolute CD4 changes, weight gain and clinical response during the course of the triaL Twenty-two (22) patients had plasma viral loads measured at the beginning and at the end of the trial (24 weeks). Seventeen (17) out of the 22 patients (77%), experienced a significant reduction in their plasma viral loads (p