Associated factors of drug-drug interactions of highly active antiretroviral therapy: report from a referral center.

OBJECTIVE

To assess different aspects of potential drug-drug interactions (DDIs) including incidence, severity, level of evidence and probable associated factors in Iranian HIV-infected individuals receiving antiretroviral therapy.

METHODS

All adult HIV-infected patients under highly active antiretroviral therapy regimen attending a referral HIV clinic during 1 year were screened retrospectively for potential moderate or severe DDIs by the Lexi-Interact On-Desktop software.

RESULTS

Near seventy percent (69.89%) of detected DDIs in our population were major. The three most common detected potential DDIs were efavirenz + methadone (11 cases), lopinavir-ritonavir + sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim, (10 cases) and lamivudine + ribavirin (7 cases). Lopinavir-ritonavir (27.96%) and citalopram (23.66%) were the most common offending antiretroviral and non-antiretroviral agents, respectively.

CONCLUSION

Performing multicenter and prospective studies is warranted to assess the real clinical as well as economic impacts of DDIs on HIV-infected patients receiving antiretroviral agents in our population and also to develop efficient preventive strategies.