Isentress
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| Trade names | Isentress |
| AHFS/Drugs.com | Monograph |
| MedlinePlus | a608004 |
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| Routes of administration |
oral |
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| Pharmacokinetic data | |
| Bioavailability | 60%(FDA) |
| Protein binding | 83% |
| Metabolism | Hepatic (UGT1A1) |
| Biological half-life | 9 hours |
| Excretion | feces and urine |
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| ECHA InfoCard | 100.124.631 |
| Chemical and physical data | |
| Formula | C20H21FN6O5 |
| Molar mass | 444.42 g/mol |
| 3D model (Jmol) | |
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Raltegravir (RAL, Isentress, formerly MK-0518) is an antiretroviral drug produced by Merck & Co., used to treat HIV infection. It received approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on 12 October 2007, the first of a new class of HIV drugs, the integrase inhibitors, to receive such approval.
In December 2011, it received FDA approval for pediatric use in patients ages 2–18, taken in pill form orally twice a day by prescription with two other antiretroviral medications to form the cocktail (most anti-HIV drugs regimens for adults and children use these cocktails). Raltegravir is available in chewable form, but because the two tablet formulations are not interchangeable, the chewable pills are only approved for use in children two to 11. Older adolescents will use the adult formulation.
Raltegravir targets integrase, an HIV enzyme that integrates the viral genetic material into human chromosomes, a critical step in the pathogenesis of HIV. The drug is metabolized away via glucuronidation.
Raltegravir is taken orally twice daily. Doses of 200, 400, and 600 mg have been studied.
At the 2007 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, researchers presented phase III data showing that 77% of patients taking the 400 mg dose of raltegravir plus other antiretroviral drugs reached HIV viral loads below 400 copies, nearly twice as many patients as compared with a control group.
Raltegravir was initially approved only for use in individuals whose infection has proven resistant to other HAART drugs. However, in July 2009, the FDA granted expanded approval for raltegravir for use in all patients. As with any HAART medication, raltegravir is unlikely to show durability if used as monotherapy, due to the highly mutagenic nature of HIV.
In a study of the drug as part of combination therapy, raltegravir exhibited potent and durable antiretroviral activity similar to that of efavirenz at 24 and 48 weeks but achieved HIV-1 RNA levels below detection at a more rapid rate. After 24 and 48 weeks of treatment, raltegravir did not result in increased serum levels of total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, or triglycerides.
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