Greater Tenofovir-associated Renal Function Decline with Protease Inhibitor-based Versus Nonnucleoside Reverse-transcriptase Inhibitor-based Therapy

Background: Plasma concentrations of tenofovir increase when the drug is coadministered with some ritonavir-boosted protease inhibitors (PI/r). We hypothesized that tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF)-treated patients taking PI/r-based regimens would have a greater decline in renal function than patients receiving nonnucleoside reverse-transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI)-based therapy.

Methods: We compared the estimated decline in renal function among 146 human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)-infected patients receiving a TDF+PI/r- (n = 51), TDF+NNRTI- (n = 29), or non-TDF-containing (n = 66) regimen. Plasma tenofovir concentrations were measured at study week 2, and rates of creatinine clearance (CrCl) were estimated using the Cockcroft-Gault (C-G) and Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) equations. Mixed-effects models were used to analyze regimen type and tenofovir concentration as predictors of change in CrCl from baseline to weeks 24 and 48.

Results: Decreases in C-G estimates of CrCl were not significantly different among the 3 groups during the first 24 weeks of therapy. However, in adjusted analyses, patients receiving TDF+PI/r had a greater rate of decline in CrCl than did the TDF+NNRTI group (for C-G, -13.9 vs. -6.2 mL/min/year [P = .03]; for MDRD, -14.7 vs. -4.5 mL/min/1.73 m(2)/year [P = .02]). Among TDF-treated patients, tenofovir plasma concentration was not associated with CrCl over time.

Conclusions: Treatment with TDF and PI/r was associated with greater declines in renal function over 48 weeks compared with TDF+NNRTI-based regimens.