Quadruple-drug Induction HAART in Advanced HIV Infection

A randomized controlled study exploring an induction-maintenance strategy was performed with a quadruple-drug regimen: zidovudine/lamivudine/abacavir/nevirapine. The study was prematurely interrupted due to the high proportion of adverse events. The median time on protocol-defined therapy was 110 days; 13/28 (46%) patients interrupted therapy and 2/6 tested patients selected praecox viral mutants. Despite this, we observed a significant (p </= .001) increment of CD4. The theoretical advantages of induction-maintenance strategies are tempered by an increased risk of adverse experiences.