Conditions: HIV/AIDS Treatment HIV Infections
Keywords: HIV/AIDS pediatrics resource-limited settings lopinavir ritonavir Kaletra® antiretroviral treatment crushed tablets treatment experienced
Allocation: RANDOMIZED | Intervention model: CROSSOVER
Enrollment: 12
Healthy volunteers: no

Brief summary:
The objective of this study is to compare the pharmacokinetics of lopinavir tablets administered to pediatric patients as either whole or crushed tablets. The study is a randomized,open-label, crossover study of pediatric subjects already taking lopinavir/ritonavir tablets as part of their clinical care. THe investigators hypothesize that lopinavir exposure in pediatric patients will be lower after taking a dose of the tablet formulation, crushed and mixed with pudding or yogurt, as compared to the exposure after taking a dose with tablets swallowed whole.

Detailed description:
By the end of 2005, approximately 2.3 million children worldwide were living with HIV/AIDS.1 At least 660,000 children worldwide have advanced HIV/AIDS and are in dire need of antiretroviral treatment. While many barriers exist to scaling up HIV/AIDS care and treatment globally, access to life-saving treatments for children is increasing. The protease inhibitor, lopinavir/ritonavir (Kaletra®), is recommended as a first-line agent by the World Health Organization and by the US Department of Health and Human Services for the treatment of pediatric patients in resource-limited settings and in the United States.

The prescribing information states that these tablets may not be crushed, broken or chewed, and the manufacturer does not plan to examine the pharmacokinetics of crushed tablets at this time. The company found that the crushed tablets were poorly absorbed in a small pharmacokinetic study in several dogs. While this information has spread through investigators by word-of-mouth, this information has not been published in any forum by the company, and no guidance as to the extent of the decrease in absorption has been provided. However, patients and caregivers are dosing pediatric patients with crushed tablets to overcome some of the limitations of the oral solution. If crushed tablet administration yields significantly lower systemic exposure to lopinavir than whole tablets, then patients using this administration technique will be at higher risk for development of viral resistance and treatment failure. This administration technique must be studied so that providers have evidence to support recommendations about this dose administration strategy.

Arms:
arm 1: These subjects will take whole lopinavir tablets at Study Visit 1, and crushed tablets at Study Visit 2. arm 2: These subjects will take crushed tablets at Study Visit 1, and whole tablets at Study Visit 2.

Interventions: intervention 1: lopinavir/ritonavir (Kaletra®) tablets
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: The subject will bring their own prescription of lopinavir/ritonavir. The patient will take a witnessed dose of lopinavir/ritonavir with an 6 ounce glass of cool water (if taken whole) or mixed in 4 ounces of Jell-O brand pudding (if crushed).

Protocol document: