San Francisco Area: Important Cyclosporin Study Recruiting
An important study of possible interactions between cyclosporin and protease inhibitors is recruiting in San Francisco. Participants will stay 48 hours in the hospital for multiple blood draws, and be paid $300 after completing the study. Participants must have a CD4 count over 200, undetectable viral load, and be on stable treatment (no changes) that includes a protease inhibitor, for at least one month before entering the study.Cyclosporin is an immune-suppressive drug which under some conditions may inhibit HIV (although in recent years interest has shifted to cyclosporin derivatives which may be antiviral without being immune suppressive). This study is not considering treatment use, however, but only whether pharmacokinetic interaction between cyclosporin and protease inhibitors can change the blood levels of one or both of the drugs. It is important to have this information in order to overcome one of the obstacles which now make it very difficult for persons with HIV to receive organ transplants. Learning whether or not immune-suppressive drugs used after organ transplantation will interact with protease inhibitors, requiring dosage changes, would eliminate one of the uncertainties now used to argue against making organ transplants available.
Volunteers will receive two doses of cyclosporin, one intravenously and one orally. As with any study there are risks, which are explained at length in the informed-consent document.
For more information about this study, call Leslie Floren, Pharm.D., 415-502-4949.
