Conditions: HIV
Keywords: Lopinavir/ritonavir Pediatric dosing World Health Organization
Allocation: NA | Intervention model: SINGLE_GROUP
Enrollment: 97
Healthy volunteers: no

Brief summary:
Treatment of children and infants with HIV requires modification of medication dosing according to a child's specific weight. For lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r), a second line treatment option that is increasingly necessary due to infant drug resistance, this dosing is often complicated and impractical in busy clinical settings. To address this, the World Health Organization (WHO) has released a simplified dosing table based on infant weight bands. This study will evaluate the absorption, safety, and tolerance of LPV/r in infants when dosed according to the new WHO guidelines.

Detailed description:
Because of previous exposure to nevirapine or other non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs), either by direct treatment or through their mothers in pregnancy, infants must often receive an alternate antiretroviral regimen that includes LPV/r. Dosing of LPV/r is currently based on a child's specific weight, and calculations of proper dosages are often too complicated to be practical in busy clinics, particularly those in limited resource settings. In order to simplify medication delivery and reduce prescribing errors, the WHO has released a dosing schedule for LPV/r based on groupings of infants and children by weight. This study will evaluate the pharmacokinetics, safety, and tolerance of LPV/r dosed according to these guidelines. The following strata were used to guide accrual:

Number of Participants to be Enrolled by Weight Band:

3-4.9 kg: 11 liquid

5-6.9 kg: 11 liquid

7-9.9 kg: 17 liquid

10-16.9 kg: 11 liquid, 22 tablet

17-19.9 kg: 11 tablet

20-24.9 kg: 11 tablet

Participation in this study will last 6 months. Infant participants and their caretakers will need to attend study visits at entry and Weeks 2, 4, 12, and 24. At entry, participants will be given LPV/r either in liquid or tablet form, depending on whether they can swallow pills. Dosing will be calculated using the WHO schedule. At all study visits, participants will undergo a physical exam and caretakers will be asked about how well the child is taking the study medications. In addition, at Weeks 4, 12, and 24, blood samples will be taken from the participant to determine health and levels of the medication in the body. The visit on Week 4 will also require pharmacokinetic testing, which means the child will need to be monitored at the hospital for 12 hours and complete six additional blood drawls. All other study visits will last 1 to 2 hours.

Arms:
arm 1: Participants will receive lopinavir/ritonavir in addition to two nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) chosen by their doctors.

Interventions: intervention 1: Lopinavir/ritonavir
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: Heat-stable tablets of 100 mg lopinavir, 25 mg ritonavir, or liquid formulation of 80 mg lopinavir, 20 mg ritonavir, dosed according to World Health Organization (WHO) pediatric weight band dosing guidelines

Protocol document: