Introduction: Antiretroviral therapy has dramatically changed the natural history of HIV infection. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness and tolerance of Non Nucleosidic Reverse Trancriptase Inhibitors containing regimens in HIV-1 infection.
Patients and methods: This is a retrospective chart review of 257 HIV-1 infected patients followed in the infectious clinic ward of fann, from august 1998 to February 2002.
Results: Overall 195 patients (75.87%) were on efavirenz and 62 (25.2%) on nevirapine, with a male predominance (sex-ratio = 1.44). Baseline HIV-1 viral load was higher in efavirene group (p = 0.03). The two groups were comparable for immune restoration, tolerance, rate of treatment discontinuation and letality. The viral suppression was greater in efavirenz group at month 6 (p = 0.04).
Conclusion: Non nucleosidic reverse transcriptase inhibitor containing regimens are effective and well tolerated. Those results make them suitable for first line therapy in HIV-1-infection.