A descriptive, combined retrospective and prospective study was conducted at the Anonymous Clinic, Chon Buri Hospital, Chon Buri Province, Thailand from November 10, 2003 to January 4, 2004. A total of 83 adult HIV-treatment-naïve patients undergoing treatment with
GPO-VIR (
stavudine,
lamivudine, and
nevirapine) for at least one year were studied. The objectives of the study were to assess the efficacy of
GPO-VIR by evaluating
body weight changes, CD4 T-cell count changes, the occurrence of
opportunistic infections, and long-term side effects, such as
lipodystrophy, during treatment. Of 83 studied patients, approximately half (52.3%) of them had a
body weight increase > 10% of pre-treatment
body weight after 12 months treatment. After taking
GPO-VIR, CD4 T-cell counts increased rapidly, by a median of 78 x 10(6) cells/l during the first three months. 39.5% of the patients attained median CD4 counts > 200 x 10(6) cells/I, and 11.6% achieved > 500 x 10(6) cells/l after 2 years of treatment. The occurrence of
opportunistic infections was significantly lower
after treatment with
GPO-VIR (p = 0.001). Subjective assessment of
lipodystrophy by physicians and patients showed that 16.8% had symptoms of
lipodystrophy within 2 years of
GPO-VIR treatment. There was a significant association between older age group (40-49 years) and occurrence of
lipodystrophy (p = 0.043).
GPO-VIR is an inexpensive and effective antiretroviral
drug regimen for initiating treatment of naïve patients, but careful assessment for
lipodystrophy is necessary, especially after one year of treatment.