Which antiretrovirals should be prescribed as first-line treatments? Changes over the past 10 years in France

Med Mal Infect. 2019 Jun;49(4):264-269. doi: 10.1016/j.medmal.2018.10.005. Epub 2018 Nov 5.

Abstract

Objective: To describe the changes in first-line antiretroviral (ART) regimens in France between 2005 and 2015 and patients' characteristics related to the use of protease inhibitors in 2015.

Methods: We extracted all patients starting ART between 2005 and 2015 from a large prospective cohort. Regimens were classified as three nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTI), or two NRTIs with a boosted protease inhibitor (bPI), with a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI), or with an INSTI. Patients' characteristics at the time of initiation were collected. A multinomial logit model was fitted to analyze characteristics related to the choice of regimen in 2015.

Results: We analyzed data from 15,897 patients. The proportion of patients starting with (i) a bPI decreased from 60% before 2014 to 38.1% in 2015; (ii) an NNRTI decreased from 30% to 17.8% in 2015; (iii) an INSTI gradually increased to 39.4% in 2015. In 2015, patients with an initial viral load ˃5 log copies/mL were less likely to receive NNRTI (OR=0.08) or INSTI regimens (OR=0.69) than bPIs. Patients with initial CD4+ T cell count ˂200/mm3 were less likely to receive an NNRTI (OR=0.28) or an INSTI regimen (OR=0.52) than a bPI. Women were less likely to receive an NNRTI (OR=0.79) or an INSTI regimen (OR=0.71) than a bPI; although this depended on age.

Conclusion: The use of bPI as first-line ART declined sharply in France from 2005 to 2015. bPI remained of preferential use in patients with high viral load, low CD4+ T cell count, and in women.

Keywords: HIV infection; Infection par le VIH; Inhibiteurs d’intégrase; Initial HIV therapy; Integrase strand transfer inhibitors; Traitement antirétroviral initial.

Publication types

  • Historical Article

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Anti-HIV Agents / therapeutic use
  • Anti-Retroviral Agents / therapeutic use*
  • Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active / statistics & numerical data
  • Cohort Studies
  • Drug Therapy, Combination
  • Female
  • France / epidemiology
  • HIV
  • HIV Infections / drug therapy*
  • HIV Infections / epidemiology
  • HIV Protease Inhibitors / therapeutic use
  • History, 21st Century
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Practice Patterns, Physicians'* / history
  • Practice Patterns, Physicians'* / statistics & numerical data
  • Practice Patterns, Physicians'* / trends
  • Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors / therapeutic use
  • Viral Load

Substances

  • Anti-HIV Agents
  • Anti-Retroviral Agents
  • HIV Protease Inhibitors
  • Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors