A Case of a Potential Drug Interaction between Phenobarbital and Darunavir-based Antiretroviral Therapy

In June 2015 a previously healthy 37-year-old male presented to the hospital for respiratory failure requiring intubation and admission to the intensive care unit. He had a 7-month history of non-productive cough and dyspnea, was diagnosed with Pneumocystis jerovicii pneumonia (PJP) and subsequently tested positive for HIV infection.

 

Phenobarbital

His CD4 cell count and viral load at that time were 81 cells/mm3 and 115,526 copies/mL, respectively. He was immediately started on high-dose sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim for PJP and combination antiretroviral (ARV) therapy with tenofovir/emtricitabine 300/200 mg daily and darunavir 800 mg boosted with ritonavir 100 mg daily for HIV while genotypic resistance testing was pending. As his respiratory status was not improving, he was subsequently switched to pentamidine to complete PJP treatment. Read More>>>>>>>>>>>