The Maligned Protease Inhibitor

Three nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (Zerit, Videx, and Retrovir) are 'significantly associated' with new-onset diabetes in HIV patients, according to study results released in Glasgow, Scotland, at the Eighth International Congress on Drug Therapy in HIV Infection. In addition, use of the nonnucleoside analog Viramune indicated that it helped protect against the onset of diabetes. In a surprise to the researchers, protease inhibitors did not show any relation to the development of diabetes despite their regular association with metabolic abnormalities in HIVers who use them. The research came from the 33,389-patient Data Collection on Adverse Effects of Antiretroviral Drugs Study, the largest cohort study'based across the United States, Europe, and Australia'following a group of patients taking anti-HIV drugs and charting the risk of certain side effects.