Atripla R/anti-TB combination in TB/HIV patients. Drug in focus

Background: Co-administration of anti-tuberculosis and antiretroviral therapy is often inevitable in high-burden countries where tuberculosis is the most common opportunistic infection associated with HIV/AIDS. Concurrent use of rifampicin and several antiretroviral drugs is complicated by pharmacokinetic drug-drug interaction. Method. Pubmed and Google search following the key words tuberculosis, HIV, emtricitabine, tenofovir efavirenz, interaction were used to find relevant information on each drug of the fixed dose combination Atripla R. Results: Information on generic name, trade name, pharmacokinetic parameter, metabolism and the pharmacokinetic interaction with Anti-TB drugs of emtricitabine, tenofovir, and efavirenz was obtained. Conclusion: Fixed dose combination of emtricitabine/tenofovir/efavirenz (ATRIPLA R) which has been approved by Food and Drug Administration shows promising results as far as safety and efficacy is concerned in TB/HIV co-infection patients, hence can be considered effective and safe antiretroviral drug in TB/HIV management for adult and children above 3 years of age. © 2011 Semvua et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.