Potential benefit of dolutegravir once daily: efficacy and safety

tential benefit of dolutegravir once daily: efficacy and safety Review (834) Total Article Views Authors: Fantauzzi A, Turriziani O, Mezzaroma I Published Date February 2013 Volume 2013:5 Pages 29 - 40 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/HIV.S27765 Received: 04 October 2012 Accepted: 17 December 2012 Published: 08 February 2013 Alessandra Fantauzzi,1 Ombretta Turriziani,2 Ivano Mezzaroma1 1Department of Clinical Medicine, 2Department of Molecular Medicine, Sapienza, University of Rome, Rome, Italy Abstract: The viral integrase enzyme has recently emerged as a primary alternative target to block HIV-1 replication, and integrase inhibitors are considered a pivotal new class of antiretroviral drugs. Dolutegravir is an investigational next-generation integrase inhibitor showing some novel and intriguing characteristics, ie, it has a favorable pharmacokinetic profile with a prolonged intracellular half-life, rendering feasible once-daily dosing without the need for ritonavir boosting and without regard to meals. Moreover, dolutegravir is primarily metabolized via uridine diphosphate glucuronosyltranferase 1A1, with a minor component of the cytochrome P450 3A4 isoform, thereby limiting drug–drug interactions. Furthermore, its metabolic profile enables coadministration with most of the other available antiretroviral agents without dose adjustment. Recent findings also demonstrate that dolutegravir has significant activity against HIV-1 isolates with resistance mutations associated with raltegravir and/or elvitegravir. The attributes of once-daily administration and the potential to treat integrase inhibitor-resistant viruses make dolutegravir an interesting and promising investigational drug. In this review, the main concerns about the efficacy and safety of dolutegravir as well as its resistance profile are explored by analysis of currently available data from preclinical and clinical studies.