July 3, 1998
This was another in a series of trials looking at the effectiveness of easier dosing regimens of indinavir. Dr. Young and her colleagues looked at two groups of patients, one taking indinavir at the current dose of 800 mg every 8 hours, in combination with 2 nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors, and the other taking their nukes in combination with indinavir dosed at 1200 mg every 12 hours. This study was small, a total of 25 patients, but confirmed the findings of other studies of twice-daily indinavir -- namely, there was no statistical difference between the groups in either viral load decrease or CD4 cell count rise. There was no difference in side effects. While we do need larger, more controlled trials, this study suggests that twice-daily indinavir, in combination with two RTIs, may be as effective as the current dose schedule, and may help improve adherence.