Triomune is a
combination of 3 drugs commonly used in the management of Human
Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection. Both stavudine and lamivudine
belong to the nucleoside analogue class of antiretroviral drugs. Both
drugs act by terminating the growth of the DNA chain and inhibiting the
reverse transcriptase of HIV. Nevirapine is a non-nucleoside reverse
transcriptase inhibitor. It acts by directly inhibiting reverse
transcriptase.
Each tablet of Triomune contains half of the commonly prescribed daily
doses of stavudine, lamivudine and nevirapine. All three drugs are to be
administered twice daily, permitting a fixed-dose combination to be
formulated. With the availability of this combination formulation,
patients may be better able to adhere to triple drug regimens, thereby
enhancing compliance.
Studies using the combination of stavudine + lamivudine + nevirapine
have demonstrated its efficacy in patients with HIV infection. In the
study presented by Kaspar et al at the 5th Conference on Retroviruses
and Opportunistic Infections, Chicago 1998, 87% of patients had
undetectable viral loads at 33-44 weeks. In the study presented by
Russell et al at the 7th European Conference on Clinical Aspects and
Treatment of HIV Infection, Lisbon 1999, CD4 counts increased by 195
cells/mm' and 230 cells/mm' in patients with low (<80,000 copies/ml) and
high viral loads (>80,000 copies/ml) respectively at the end of I year.
72% of patients with low viral loads and 80% of patients with high viral
loads had undetectable viral loads at the end of 1 year. |
