The purpose of this study is to see if taking nevirapine (NVP) for HIV changes the way artemether/lumefantrine (AL) works in children who are co-infected with both HIV and malaria. The brand of AL used in this study is Coartem® Dispersible. This study will compare the blood levels of AL in co-infected children who already take NVP prescribed by their doctor with the co-infected children who do not take anti HIV medicines because they do not meet national guidelines to start them. The study will also assess the safety of using both medications (AL and NVP) in children.
Malaria and HIV are among the two most important global health problems of our time. Malaria accounts for up to 3 million deaths each year, of which 90% occur in Africa where malaria is the leading cause of mortality in young children. Artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) are the mainstay of antimalarial therapy throughout much of the world, yet pediatric pharmacokinetic data on the most widely adopted ACT regimen, artemether/lumefantrine (AL) are lacking. Of equal importance is the assessment of key drug-drug interactions in HIV co-infected children as ARVs are known to affect the metabolic enzyme activity responsible for ACT elimination. This study proposes to investigate the drug-drug interaction between the antimalarial artemether/lumefantrine and nevirapine based antiretroviral (ARV) treatment for HIV in children co-infected in resource limited settings.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
19
College of Med. JHU CRS (30301)
Blantyre, Blantyre, Malawi
University of North Carolina Lilongwe (12001)
Lilongwe, Malawi
Makerere University - JHU Research Collaboration (30293)
Kampala, Uganda
Area under the curve from time zero to last quantifiable concentration (AUC)
Area under the plasma concentration versus time curve from time zero to time of last quantifiable concentration
Time frame: NVP PK: At study entry and study day 3, AL PK: At study days 3, 4, 8, and 14
Toxicity
Number of subjects with adverse events of Grade 3 or higher will be recorded
Time frame: At study entry and study days 28 and 42
Maximum observed plasma concentration (Cmax)
Maximum observed plasma concentration computed for each individual and then summarized for the strata
Time frame: NVP PK: At study entry and study day 3, AL PK: At study days 3, 4, 8, and 14
Minimum observed plasma concentration (Cmin)
Minimum observed plasma concentration computed for each individual and then summarized for the strata
Time frame: NVP PK: At study entry and study day 3, AL PK: At study days 3, 4, 8, and 14
Toxicity
Percentage of subjects with adverse events of Grade 3 or higher will be recorded Safety Issue: Yes
Time frame: At study days 28 and 42
HIV-1 Viral Load
Dried Blood Spot (DBS) samples will be collected on all study subjects for HIV-1 viral load measurement.
Time frame: At study entry and study days 8, 14, and 42
NVP resistance
Dried Blood Spot (DBS) samples will be collected on all subjects. Drug resistance testing will only be performed on subjects who show changes in viral load pattern between study entry and study day 42.
Time frame: At study entry and study day 42
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