Antiviral activity and CSF concentrations of 600/100 mg of darunavir/ritonavir once daily in HIV-1 patients with plasma viral suppression

Objectives The objective of this study was to assess whether a lower dose than the currently used one of darunavir/ritonavir might achieve good CSF concentrations and contribute to inhibition of CNS viral replication. Patients and methods This was a substudy of a randomized, open, multicentre study (eudraCT 2011-006272-39), comparing the efficacy and safety of 800/100 mg of darunavir/ritonavir (darunavir 800) versus 600/100 mg of darunavir/ritonavir (darunavir 600) once daily plus tenofovir/emtricitabine or abacavir/lamivudine in 100 virologically suppressed patients. Paired blood and CSF samples were obtained. Total plasma darunavir concentrations were determined by HPLC, and CSF concentrations by liquid chromatography–tandem MS. Viral load (VL) was determined in plasma and CSF (limit of detection = 40 copies/mL) by PCR. Results Sixteen patients were enrolled. The median (range) of darunavir CSF concentrations in darunavir 600 (n = 8) and darunavir 800 (n = 8) patients was 17.08 (5.79–30.19) and 13.23 (3.47–32.98) ng/mL, respectively (P = 0.916). The median (range) darunavir CSF:plasma ratio was 0.010 (0.005–0.022) in darunavir 600 patients and 0.008 (0.004–0.017) in the darunavir 800 arm (P = 0.370). All 16 patients had a VL Conclusions Darunavir CSF and plasma concentrations were comparable between the two arms. However, one patient from each group (with the lowest CSF darunavir concentrations in their respective groups) had detectable CSF VL despite undetectable plasma VL.